Edguy- Space Police – Defenders Of The Crown (2014)

Reviewed by Sebastian Kluth

Edguy is one of the bands that introduced me to metal about a decade ago. Though I consider myself a big fan, I must admit that I didn’t like the last two studio albums, with their mixture of old-fashioned radio hard rock tracks and exchangeable Avantasia leftovers. Avantasia seemed to become Tobias Sammet’s main concern while Edguy really suffered from this. I was hoping that he would take a creative break and put the Avantasia project aside, but Tobias Sammet simply can’t stop writing, recording, and releasing. To my surprise, both Avantasia and Edguy are back from the edge and each released convincing records with The Mystery Of Time and Space Police – Defenders Of The Crown,respectively. Edguy’s new record goes back to the style of Rocket Ride, and is pretty much as good as that album.

The band made a wise decision in opening the record with “Sabre & Torch” instead of a half-hearted ballad, a seventies’ hard rock track, or a weird song with even weirder humor. “Sabre & Torch” conquered me quickly, and it’s my favorite song from the album; probably even Edguy’s best song since the epic “Sacrifice” eight years earlier. The song features sharp and speedy riffs, a few cool keyboard passages, and aggressive high-pitched vocals crowned by a simplistic but effective chorus that will take the masses by storm. If Edguy comes back to North America anytime soon, I already know that I will go absolutely insane to this song in concert. “Sabre And Torch” represents everything a great European power metal song means to me. Okay, the vocals sound a little bit forced at some point, but that’s the only negative thing to say about this killer anthem. This is a precious candidate for my favorite song of the year. Why couldn’t they release an entire record with songs like this one?

The rest of the record is not as great as the opener, but it’s still quite good. “Space Police” is a lot slower and more melodic. Its lyrics, humorous bridge, and funny sound effects are a little bit goofy, but the chorus is incredibly catchy. “Defenders Of The Crown” goes back to the power metal style of the past. Tobias Sammet manages a diverse vocal performance here, and the simplistic but epic chorus will surely find its place in future set lists. It’s a true pleasure to hear Edguy go back to its roots. The following single, “Love Tyger”, is a funny glam rock track. I’m not a big fan of that genre, but as a little change, this track works very well and sounds quite fresh. “The Realms Of Baba Yaga” is a cool mixture of hard rock and power metal that takes the better elements from each and fuses them in a powerful six minute song.

Then comes Edguy’s cover of “Rock Me Amadeus”, a song that is quite hard for me to judge. It kicks off the second half of the record (which isn’t as good as the first in my opinion). The original song is extremely well known, and was originally performed by legendary Austrian singer Falco, who mixed pop and rock elements with his unique rap passages. How would Sammet manage to perform the original rap flow with strong Austrian accent and German lyrics? It is, in fact, the first time that Edguy has performed a song in German since the very cool demo song “Das Reh”. I must admit that I didn’t really enjoy this cover at first because it’s too close to the original to stand out, and the vocal parts are not very well mixed and hard to understand. The more I listen to the song however, I realize that Edguy must have had tons of fun while recording this track. Even though this song is far from perfection, the band’s good humor is somehow contagious. In the end, I don’t adore this song, but I don’t hate it either. It’s better than what I expected, and that’s about all I can say.

“Do Me Like A Caveman” took me a little bit by surprise. I was expecting a humorous hard rock track with raunchy lyrics, but the final result sounds a little bit like HIM with higher vocals. Once again, it’s not as bad as I expected when I first saw the title. Another mediocre track, but it works well as a cheesy and more commercial song in the album context. “Shadow Eaters” is another vivid power metal-driven track with great melancholic vocals. It’s not a standout song, but is probably the most promising grower on the album. “Alone In Myself” is the predictable ballad that Edguy needs to include on each record. To my surprise, the ballad has a certain atmosphere with a strong eighties rock feeling, decent organ sounds, and enchanting vocals. Ultimately, it is much better than the last few songs of its kind offered by the band. It’s still one of the weaker tracks on the album, and reminds me of Bon Jovi. The closing nine-minute epic “The Eternal Wayfarer” sounds like a mixture of Avantasia’s “Sign Of The Cross” and Edguy’s “The Piper Never Dies”, with a few oriental sound samples added in. No, this is not original at all. But, as I enjoy both songs, I also enjoy this track, even if it’s maybe a few minutes too long for its own good. It’s a good closer to what is overall a very good album.

Let me tell you however, that the limited version is really not worth your attention or money. “England” is a boring piano ballad with pseudo-funny lyrics. “Aychim In Hysteria” sounds like The Police meets Wham!. This is definitely not my cup of tea. The alternate versions and instrumental tracks are completely useless as well. It’s even hard to convince a collector like me to purchase this edition. At least the cover artwork is not that much of an abomination, and one gets to see a few more photos. I know these are rather weak reasons, but I’m trying to convince myself right now.

In the end, Space Police – Defenders Of The Crown is a welcome return to form for Edguy. The new record doesn’t really surprise or introduces us to anything new, but it goes back to the strengths that made Edguy so popular with records such as Hellfire Club and Rocket Ride. Edguy doesn’t sound like an Avantasia side project, nor like an old-fashioned hard rock band anymore. This is a power metal record with a couple of truly amazing songs. Above all, “Sabre & Torch” is my favorite Edguy track in eight years, and the album offers several more in that vein. Even the weaker tracks here sound rather good to me. I’m really glad Edguy are back.

4.0 // 5

Stream Of Passion - A War Of Our Own (2014)

Reviewed by Sebastian Kluth

Stream Of Passion has everything it needs to stand out amongst many other symphonic metal bands. The band had an illustrious founding, always has featured a competent line-up, as well as many promising collaborators. Singer Marcela Bovio has an amazing voice filled with passion and soul that differs from the exchangeable high pitched operatic vocals of many colleagues, and she is fluent in both English and Spanish. Despite all these positive factors, Stream Of Passion has never fully sold me in the past because it sounded too faceless. It is always nice to listen to the band’s albums, but they’re unfortunately quickly exchangeable and forgettable.

In my opinion, the band’s fourth output, A War Of Our Own, is maybe one of Stream Of Passion’s best records due to a crystal clear production and a few decent progressive elements. Once again, much of the music still sounds exchangeable and is of a “good” quality at best. Despite rather short and consistent songs and an excellent vocalist, only a few tracks manage to grab my attention, as I find most songs are neither catchy nor impressive in any way.

The first track that really stands out on A War Of Our Own is the eerie, reduced ballad “For You”, which gets its life from an amazing vocal performance, a haunting piano composition, and melancholic violins. The heavier and modern “Exile” is my favorite song on the album. It mixes Spanish and English lyrics, and has an almost tango-infused hypnotizing feeling without forgetting about fresh and heavy riffs. The chorus is charming and dramatic, and reminds me slightly of Evanescence in a positive way. This is a courageous track that finally stands out and capitalizes upon the band’s strengths. The following, more progressive “Delirio” is completely sung in Spanish. It opens with relaxed piano and violin melodies before modern and discordant riffs kick in to create an intriguing contrast. This is finally some outstanding song writing that opens up the more you listen to it. Above everything once again soar the powerful vocals of Marcela Bovio, who really is one of the best singers in the symphonic metal genre. The middle part of this record clearly includes the most adventurous songwriting.

We have to wait until the end of the record to listen to some equally great material. The closing “Out Of The Darkness” comes around with refreshingly jazzy progressive tones, dominated by bass guitar and piano work that meet dark riffs here and there that evoke a destructive atmosphere. The mixture of laid back passages and darker ones, as well as fierce guitar work is surprisingly great in the album’s closer. It’s worth the time to check out the bonus track on the limited edition as well. It’s a mystery to me why “The Distance Between Us” didn’t make it onto the regular edition, because it is probably the most accessible song on the entire record. This track has interesting lyrics combined with catchy melodies and hooks. The middle section features a few chants and the record’s most emotional guitar solo as well. If you think about purchasing this record, it’s worth spending a few dollars more for this excellent bonus track.

Once again, it’s very tough to judge Stream Of Passion in the end. A War Of Our Own is maybe the best record from the band to date. The middle of the work is incredibly strong, the album closer is great, and the bonus track proves that the band can also write grounded and accessible material. Otherwise, the band truly shines in the more experimental tracks with tango, progressive rock, and jazz elements. The problem is that the first half of the album in particular is rather unspectacular and tame. Marcela Bovio’s vocals are always excellent, but the song writing is sometimes still too exchangeable, and the songs often have nothing that might grab your attention. Many tracks sound enjoyable while you’re listening to them, but a few minutes later you will have already forgotten about them. I would say that the band is on a good path to finally improving its song writing, though. Time will tell if the talented sextet from the Netherlands might make it to the top league of the female-fronted symphonic metal scene. A War Of Our Own is all right, but it can’t compete with the new releases from Xandria and Epica. In the end, Stream Of Passion delivers a good, fairly average record, with a few pearls for symphonic and progressive metal fans.

3.0 // 5

Epica- The Quantum Enigma (2014)

Reviewed by Sebastian Kluth

Epica is back with its seventh studio record in eleven years, and The Quantum Enigma might just be the band’s strongest output yet. Epica sounds more consistent, more thought-out, and a whole lot heavier than before, and delivers nearly seventy minutes of addicting symphonic metal.

After the short overture “Originem”, the band portrays what makes it stand out over the next two tracks. “The Second Stone” sounds heavier and tighter than one might have expected after such an epic introduction, but Simone Simons’ vocals sound quite confident. Some people might argue that the chorus is too soft, but I adore its floating and almost spiritual touch to contrast the punching verses. Simone Simone sounds truly angelic in this song. “The Essence Of Silence” opens with melancholic piano and string sounds, and Epica sounds more cinematic than ever on this album. “The Essence Of Silence” takes a similar path as its predecessor: an apocalyptic atmosphere, beefy riffs, and solid growls kick in before Simons’ contrasting vocals lead to an enlightening and spiritual chorus. Once again, the contrast between the beauty and the beast works so easily. Epica really sounds like itself and not like any other symphonic metal band on this record, and this is very important in a scene with so many exchangeable bands. Most songs follow the beauty-meets-the-beast approach, and hit hard like the destructive “Victims Of Contingency” which is one of the hardest tracks ever written by the band.

Other highlights include the epic instrumental “The Fifth Guardian – Interlude”, with its majestic Asian folk influences that remind me of The Last Successor, and the calmer, more classical and gracious symphonic metal hymn “Omen – The Ghoulish Melody”, which convinces with its powerful chorus. The two longer songs on the record, “Sense Without Sanity – The Impervious Code” and “The Quantum Enigma – Kingdom Of Heaven Part II”, have their precious moments, but are also a little bit overlong here and there, needing multiple spins to open up. I would say that the shorter and straighter tracks on the album work much better in general than the overambitious epics.

Epica might not reach the quality of Xandria’s new release, Sacrificium, due to a extra length in the second part of the album but, it comes extremely close. I would have thought better of The Quantum Enigma if the band had focused on nine or ten tracks and a total length of around fifty minutes instead of inflating the record here and there. However, the first half of the record is really excellent. The musicianship is technically stunning, the production is powerful, the song wrtiting finds the right balance between grace and heaviness, and even the cover artwork is a stunner. Symphonic metal fans should definitely purchase this one, as I believe Epica has delivered the best effort of its career so far.

4.25 // 5

Epica – The Holographic Principle

October 17, 2016 in Reviews by Sebastian Kluth