A Metal Pigeon Nod to Power Quest

 

 

Its been an exceptionally quiet start to the new year for metal related news and happenings, but one announcement a couple weeks ago really caught my attention. After twelve years and five studio albums, Power Quest from the UK, one of the premiere power metal bands of the past decade was calling it quits. In an extremely blunt, and forthright statement, band founder and keyboardist Steve Williams laid out the circumstances surrounding the band’s demise, and the blame seemed to fall for the most part on the ugly truths of finances. And here’s the thing: Regardless of whether I like any band’s music or not, whether I’ve enjoyed their live shows or thought they sucked and wished they’d get off the stage, I’d be extremely disheartened to hear of any band having to throw in the towel for reasons as soul crushingly bare as the ones that were described in Williams’ statement.

 

 

 

 

I myself do enjoy Power Quest’s albums and while I can’t say that they’ve been my favorite power metal band by any means, I have always thought that Williams (who as the primary songwriting force is essentially Power Quest) was an exceptionally skillful songwriter in the conventional sense of penning undeniably catchy melody lines and hooky choruses, an ability which is sadly undervalued within metal. Unlike their fellow UK siblings in Dragonforce (both sprang from the old mp3.com era band Dragonheart of the early 2000s), Power Quest were far less concerned with speed and furious soloing as they were with keeping all the arrangements and window dressings as uncluttered as possible to allow their pure melodies to soar through. The results were the cornerstones of what European  power metal should be: great melodies, memorable hooks and choruses, and really really fun songs.

 

But power metal like all other kinds of metal has the potential for subtext and depth, and Power Quest were no exception in this regard. And there was the enjoyability of the music on a surface level, and then the quiet reasons why you were able to accept this poppy, cheery, optimistic music as a type of metal when so many fellow metal fans would scoff at it. A reviewer named thedudeofdudeness on the Metal Archives perhaps said it best, in describing the band’s music as “power metal’s proclivity toward escapism, setting fantasy and science fiction themes against the backdrop of the real world and treating romanticism and imagination as a last refuge against the conflicts and alienation of modernity”.

 

I understand all bands have to end sometime, but you’d rather the end come through a natural course of progression such as key band members leaving, artistic changes of heart, or feeling like they’ve said all they can say. The gut feeling with Power Quest is that Williams was on to something fresh with 2011’s Blood Alliance and its increased blend of 80’s AOR with traditional power metal, and that they’re leaving with their career’s work unfinished. It really does feel as if these guys had a few more albums left on the table, and that they’re having to walk away now is a shame.

 

So here’s a nod, a cheer, a toast, or a metal horns salute to Power Quest, and a listen to five reasons why they mattered:

 

 

1. “Edge of Time” (from the Neverworld album): The ultimate Power Quest song. A perfect mix of 80s Euro-hard rock swagger and traditional power metal elements fused into one punctuatingly catchy paean to the spirit of defiance. Rocking guitar riffs support dominating keyboard melodies that guide one of the best vocal performances in recent power metal history. You already have the music video idea in your head.

 

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weO0Qdl2vzQ?rel=0&w=560&h=315]

 

 

 

2. “Better Days” (from the Blood Alliance album):  The website AllMusic wrote of this song, “”Better Days” sounds like it was written to soundtrack a training montage in an ’80s movie about a high-school wrestler recruited to battle Soviet soldiers, or something”. Its hard to argue against that, because when I think on it, that would be really awesome (someone outta be working on a YouTube clip of that btw), but hahas aside, “Better Days” may be one of the catchiest songs I’ve ever heard. And I’m not embarrassed to say that when I listen to it, I feel a little better, no matter how down of a day I’m having. And sometimes that’s what certain songs are for.

 

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQ11RP8j9tU?rel=0&w=560&h=315]

 

 

 

3. “When I’m Gone” (from the Neverworld album): This stately, semi-awkwardly constructed ballad is endearing on a number of levels. First for the simple yet emotive keyboard intro, secondly for the sublime harmony vocals in the chorus (always a great trait for a power metal band to have), and finally for the bittersweet poetic chorus lyric “And when I’m gone,  the world carries on / And you must carry on too / When I’m not around, time won’t stand still / Your memories will always be true” — a simple lyric to be sure but memorable at that and set to a bed of music that evokes a sense of nostalgia, fear, and optimism all at once.

 

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKHpeyiMLt8?rel=0&w=560&h=315]

 

 

 

4. “Hold On To Love” (from the Magic Never Dies album): Despite the at times ‘on the nose’ lyrics that skirt the boundaries of saccharine melodrama, this was a highly memorable song from an album full of memorable songs. A hook that never goes away coupled with the lean, sharp guitars that characterized many of Power Quest’s more hard rock inflected tunes has made this a personal favorite. There’s also a fantastic guitar solo that sounds eerily similar to the old Melrose Place theme song (not that I would ever watch that)!

 

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSsN0pYiyCE?rel=0&w=560&h=315]

 

 

 

5. Lost Without You” (from the Neverworld album): If you haven’t noticed, Neverworld was a spectacular album — a power metal gem. This is the longest song the band ever did, and it showcases their prog-influenced side, taking a page from Kansas, Styx, and the like. Ten minute songs by power metal bands are normally a dicey proposition with few bands having the skills to craft one worth its length, but Williams succeeded in shaping a multifaceted epic with varying tempos, styles, even vocalists — but at the core is a rockin’ verse and chorus section with aggressive hooks and a refrain that soars.

 

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOWv2XLjop4?rel=0&w=560&h=315]

 

 

 

The Metal Pigeon’s Five Most Anticipated Albums of 2013

Killer metal tends to come in waves that ebb and flow. For example from 2010 through 2012 one could not begin to stem the tide of awesome new releases being dished out every single month. This prolific three year stretch of metallic goodness was particularly noticeable when juxtaposed next to the comparative drought metal seemed to go through from 2006-2009 (hey, at least to me anyway). So the question of the moment has to be whether or not 2013 can maintain this high velocity level we’ve gotten used to from metal artists worldwide, spanning all sub genres. We won’t know until the year’s over but the tentative 2013 release schedules that are being compiled and posted on metal sites all over are promising to say the least. Here are my personal top five most anticipated metal releases of this new year!

 

 

1. Queensrÿche – TBA:

Just to clarify, I’m referring to the Todd LaTorre fronted, real Queensrÿche that has within its ranks founding members Michael Wilton, Scott Rockenfield, and Eddie Jackson. The abortion that is Geoff Tate’s Queensrÿche can go die a slow, miserable, dinner-theater death. Why is this my most anticipated release of the year? Well my Queensrÿche fandom runs way back in my metal loving infancy, they were among some of the first bands to really make me appreciate music on a far more complex level, as well as being a musical cornerstone for a type of sound that I love to this day. They were one of my gateway bands in other words, and to see the deterioration that they had to go through in their post-Chris DeGarmo era at the hands of the woeful Tate and Yoko Tate has been more than a man can bear. When they finally gave him the boot in April of 2012 and soon afterwards debuted their newly recruited vocalist, LaTorre from Crimson Glory, I felt that one of my old favorites had been given a new lease on life. The recorded live clips of their recent string of shows have been nothing short of fantastic and grin inducing, and the talk of what this new album is supposed to be has me cautiously optimistic. I’m hopeful that these guys will make good on their promise to release a prog-metal album in the vein of what Queensrÿche fans have long hungered for.

 

 

2. Avantasia – The Mystery of Time:

Maybe the least surprising factoid for many of you who read this blog often is that I’m a fairly huge power metal fan. When I was first exploring metal that was off the American mainstream radar I briefly shunned power metal, sticking to death and melodic death metal with inborn stubbornness. But I loosened up when three power metal titans punched me in the face with releases from the late 90s, namely, Blind Guardian, Iced Earth, and Edguy. The latter of which contained one of the sub genre’s truly fantastic personalities: Edguy’s mercurial frontman, Tobias Sammet, was a vivid, loud, and zany character — but also one of the most accomplished and prolific songwriters that metal had ever seen. In a span of three years, 1998 to 2001, he knocked out of the ballpark three power metal classics with Edguy’s Vain Glory Opera, Theater of Salvation, and Mandrake.

 

The fact that he was folding into that same time frame a pair of classic records with his solo project Avantasia’s The Metal Opera Pt I & II was not only an incredible feat, but also the defining moment for the sub genre in what was a watershed period of excellent releases that began in the mid-nineties and would span well over a decade. It was a great time to be a fan of this style of metal. When he brought the project back in 2008 and onwards with a trio of releases and a new line-up, I felt like Sammet was forging a new path within power metal itself by mixing traditional elements with AOR, hard rock, and even pop. Sure there were catcalls and criticisms from naysayers who felt he was straying too far from the sub genre’s trademark elements, but to his credit, he insisted on making the records that he wanted to hear. This new album then, due out in March, is yet another resurrection of the Avantasia project, and Sammet is assembling another interesting cast of guest vocalists and musicians that I hope will live up to the exciting musical legacy already established with the previous releases.

 

But here’s the real talk about Sammet, regardless of how much he tries to deny it, its becoming clear that Avantasia has supplanted Edguy as his primary focus. When your solo project starts to outgun your main band’s albums in terms of songwriting quality, scale, ambition, and record sales, its obvious where you’re subconsciously or consciously putting forth most of your efforts. And I guess I’m fine with that. No disrespect to the fellows in Edguy, but I suppose I’m more of a fan of Tobias Sammet and his songwriting than anything else, no matter what project its in. It’ll be interesting to see the futures of both projects.

 

 

 

3. Darkthrone – The Underground Resistance:

I know its not just myself that feels this way, but generally speaking, I think I enjoy listening to the latter day, more recent Darkthrone albums than their earlier ones. Sacrilege? To many yes. But here’s the thing, there’s only so many times I can listen to A Blaze in the Northern Sky and Transilvanian Hunger without feeling like I’m spinning my wheels a bit. Those were the records that I’d see references in metal magazines lists of essential black metal listening, the ones name dropped by so many bands, and the ones that its generally believed that a metal fan needs to devour in order to understand the complete picture of black metal.

 

Hey, that was all fine with me — if a bit studious, but there is such a thing as over listening to an album (still can’t really listen to those Emperor albums anymore). Darkthrone made an abrupt stylistic shift to a punky, crusty, thrashy black metal blend with 2003’s Hate Them and never really looked back. This approach has progressed to a more and more non-traditional sound, culminating in what might be one of their best records to date, 2010’s Circle the Wagons. Clean singing in Darkthrone songs? Clean(er) production on a Darkthrone album? What the hell was going on right? If all else failed it was worth it simply to see the internet black metal crybabies go berserk on the Metal Archives and black metal blogs everywhere. But I loved that record, and enjoyed the four that preceded it (yes I’m even including The Cult Is Alive with its critic-baiting, rage-inducing “Too Old, Too Cold”). If the teaser that’s out for the new album is any indication — where the vocals take on a near Mercyful Fate-esque quality — troo kvlt fans will be even more pissed off and I’ll be even more pleased. Good stuff.

 

 

 

4. Satyricon – TBA:

It has been just under four and a half years since Satyr and Frost released any new music together. That is considered a rather long time in metal, a genre where Wintersun’s eight year delay of Time I was considered a long enough period to deem Jari Mäenpää as Axl Rose’s Finnish cousin. Unlike those two guys, who aim to be perfectionists much to their own detriment, Satyr had a decent enough reason to call time on his name sake band. Quite simply, he realized that he’d run the band’s sound as far as it would go, and was staring at a wall. It was time to go back to the drawing board and reconfigure the sound of Satyricon for the future.

 

The exciting part for us fans is that we really have no idea what this could mean. Few could predict the black n’ roll turn that these guys took with “Fuel For Hatred”, and really I’ve seen no one even take a stab in the dark at what the new stuff will sound like. The band is keeping mums the word as well, but we’ll all have some shreds of answers come late March when they take the stage at the Inferno Festival where its promised that they’ll debut several new songs live. I’m sure there are loads of people who have become disinterested in anything these guys have done since Rebel Extravaganza, despite their soaring popularity through the past decade. Again, like Darkthrone, I found myself enjoying black n’ roll Satyricon simply for what it was, in this case entertaining and catchy as hell metal. But if you were one of those disgruntled former fans, well here’s your chance to give the band another shot with a new album due this year that is expected to be the start of a new era of Satyricon.

 

 

 

5. Omnium Gatherum – Beyond:

These guys were a slow burn for me, as I took up an infatuation with Insomnium and Moonsorrow first and Omnium had to take the backseat for awhile. Choosing to ignore the odd subtext of that sentence, I’ll just move on and say that New World Shadows was my selling point on the band. What a great freaking album. I’ll have to admit that my listening experience with the band is so far limited only to the albums with Jukka Pelkonen on vocals, and I’ve no idea about anything done with the old singer. I’m okay with that right now, as I’m slowly becoming a Pelkonen fanboy. He might be one of the most versatile and expressive vocalists doing harsh/gutteral vocals in the metal scene as a whole. Musically not only does it feel like these guys are original in style and sound, but that originality extends to their songwriting as well, where standard pop structures are discarded in favor of more complex arrangements.

 

The new album, Beyond, will be the first of my most anticipated to be released this year, and the band have released a new song well ahead of the album’s expected release date of late February, and it can be heard here. It seems like the standard pre-album release cut strategy, issuing the most obviously catchy song first, but time will tell on that. I’m digging it, and it seems like they’ve gotten into more of the almost near power metal guitar sounds that they were exploring on New World Shadows. By the way, I wonder if anyone has passed a copy of that album to someone in In Flames? It’s seemingly the type of thing that those guys have been blindly trying to strive for with their recent clumsy, half-baked stabs at modernizing melodic death metal.

 

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