Classics From The 90s - Part I

So many people shit on the 90s-music scene, but there were countless brilliant albums released during that time. Below, in images, are a handful of some of the lesser-known classics that came out in the 90s.












These albums remain all-time favorites. All essential, in my opinion.

Ion Vein - Reigning Memories

Majesphere Records | 2003 | 12 songs (64:12) | Progressive Power Metal

Ion Vein, like many bands, came to me by way of sheer randomness. I was searching a download site for old Queensryche demos and I came across a cover version of Take Hold of the Flame, by Ion Vein. It was taken from the album Rebellion: A Tribute to Queensryche, one of the bazillion tribute albums Dwell Records has released. I downloaded it and gave it a listen. Once the vocalist started singing I was floored. While I generally like cover songs to be reinvented and personalized by the band that is covering the song, it’s not often you’re going to find a band able to emulate Queensryche virtually note for note (just listen to the album this song came from for proof of that). But not only did Ion Vein nail every aspect of this song, they managed to give it their own personal touch and make it their own while still clearly doing the original sweet justice.

So I went on the hunt. I found Ion Vein’s website, listened to the tracks, and I was hooked!

You won’t find a review out their that doesn’t mention Russ Klimczak’s ability to sound identical to Geoff Tate. It’s almost unsettling to know that it’s not Geoff Tate barreling through your speakers. Still, Klimczak does have his own voice, he’s not in Tate mode the whole album, just at times. Musically the band go from power metal to melodic rock to progressive metal to AOR with the grace and fluidity of a band that’s been around for 30 years, and though there are similarities in the vocal department, the band truly transcends comparison and has a firm hold on their own little metal niche.

I was lucky enough to score this copy—one of only two left at the time, which was a few years ago now—from guitarist Chris Lotesto, and it was money well spent. Reigning Memories is Ion Vein’s sophomore release after the long out-of-print debut, Beyond Tomorrow. The album starts off with a short intro called “Awakening,” opening the gates for “Another Life,” a heavy metal barnburner with a great hook, a killer, mellow mid-section and some fantastic solo work. The vocals are on point throughout, reminiscent of The Warning-era Geoff Tate: mid- to upper-range, strong and grandiose.

I won’t give a song-by-song description, but some highlights would include the progressive “Spiral Maze”—just listen to those solos and that bass line!—and the hook-heavy, AOR-cum-heavy metal scorcher, Faith And Majesty. A saxophone dominates the background of the ballad-esque “Twilight Garden” and it’s a welcome respite before the title track—another progressive monster—kicks in. The Adrian’s Ladder Trilogy features three songs—duh!—that have a nice, mild progressive lilt. It doesn’t quite live up to the epic stirrings that the word “trilogy” evokes, but it’s still a solid showcase of metal tunes.

Like I mentioned earlier, the band’s style runs the gamut, and they do so with ease. Reigning Memories is solid all around. It’s always good to come across a US heavy-metal act playing this kind of music and playing it well.

Unfortunately, if this review has piqued your interest, the album may be hard to find. As mentioned, the band’s own guitarist only had two copies before he sold me one, and that years ago. I know the band is currently working on a new album—which was actually supposed to be out in 2006—with a new singer, but maybe it’s time someone re-released both Beyond Tomorrow and Reigning Memories. Both are quite deserving.

Note: This review was originally published on MetalReviews.com.

The Sword - The Sword (Demo)

Self-Financed | 2004 | 3 songs (14:54) | Stoner/Doom Metal

Years ago, sitting at home in my living room, I switched on the heavy-metal Music Choice channel. They were playing a new song by the hardcore band Freya called “The Sword.” Weird, I thought. They’ve changed…a lot! Freya is a band featuring ex-members of the then-defunct Earth Crisis, one of the best hardcore bands ever, and both bands aren’t too different in style. So what the hell is Freya doing playing 70’s Sabbath-inspired, stoner/doom metal? I wondered. Then I figured it out: they weren’t! (This is where I admit to being a dummy.) The band was called The Sword and the song was called “Freya.” Doh!

So with one mystery solved, I wanted to know more about The Sword. Because they were damn good.

At the time this review was written, there was very little information out there. Unlike today. Their bio was a goofy story of swordsmiths, anvils, battles and blades, which told me nothing except that maybe they’re nerds who like Dungeons & Dragons. I did know, though, that there were four band members that comprised the band, they had formed in 2003, and were from Austin, Texas. They had a full-length album, Age of Winters, due the following year. In the interim, I found this demo for sale at Waterloo Records. So I bought it. The demo went out of print shortly thereafter.

So onto that demo...

Well, to get your bearings, take Vol. 4-era Black Sabbath, latter day Clutch, and a little bit of Kyuss, and that should give you a rough estimate of where we are on the metal map. At this point, most people already know this. Though some would probably like to filet my testicles for suggesting The Sword is anything like the almighty Sabbath.

“Celestial Crown/Barael’s Blade” kicks off this little demo EP. The “Celestial Crown” portion is essentially a doomy, two-minute-long, feedback- and sludge-filled intro that leads into a heavy 70’s rock jam delivered with the stoned ferocity you’d expect from veteran players, not four kids from Texas. The song is excellent. “Winter’s Wolves” follows. Again, this one begins like a traditional doom-metal track, but quickly brings in that Black Sabbath sound, channeling Tony Iommi from three decades before—and even a touch of The Melvins. Another great song.

Saving the best for last, closing the EP is “Iron Swan,” a song that has become something of a signature anthem for the band. One word description for this song: Brilliant! Simple as that. The song begins with some electric/acoustic picking and a tambourine; this goes on for about a minute, fades, and then the second part kicks in. You can almost sing Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs” over the two-pronged riff. Almost, I said. The riff is simply too fast. After about five seconds Trivett Wingo is laying down some drums rolls over Kyle Shutt’s increasingly fast and frenzied picking, and then they’re off! Double bass, killer riffs, and just balls-to-the-wall metal. “Iron Swan” is a damn fine slab of heavy, frenetic rock ‘n’ roll.

The Sword have gone on to bigger and better things, becoming one of the biggest “little” metal bands to hit the scene in years. The elitists hate them, going so far as suggesting the band is manufactured, like O-Town or the latest P Diddy flop. But you can’t manufacture a band like this. No way. The Sword is the real deal, and fans of great metal love them for it. And rightfully so.

Note: This review was originally published on MetalReviews.com.

Rhapsody Of Fire - Tirumph Or Agony

Magic Circle Music | 2006 | 11 songs (62:23) | Symphonic/Orchestral Power Metal

Once known as simply Rhapsody, after more than ten years the band found themselves having to amend their name due to illegal use of a trademark and copyright infringement. So Rhapsody of Fire they became. I’m not sure who owns the rights to the name “Rhapsody,” but I’m willing to bet that had Christopher Lee—famous but most recently famous for his role as Saruman in the hugely successful Lord of the Rings movie trilogy—not been featured—and promoted heavily—on 2004s Symphony of Enchanted Lands II: The Dark Secret, I would be reviewing Triumph or Agony by Rhapsody, not this absurd Rhapsody of Fire nonsense—which is just another layer of cheese on top of the massive amount the band already had on the table.

Over the course of recent albums, the band has been receiving a steady amount of flack from fans wanting the faster, heavier style the band showcased on earlier albums. As time went on, the theatrics and symphonic elements tended to overshadow things, serving up decidedly weaker doses of the metal they became known for. If “Rhapsody of Fire” makes little sense, Triumph or Agony is a very apt album title. Some will find the album to be a triumph in bombastic symphonic metal; others will find it to be another agonizing nail in the coffin of what once was. Many, like myself, will find themselves in a tug-o-war between the two.

Triumph or Agony begins with a standard intro, the two-part “Dar-Kunor,” which is actually a very good intro with a nice climactic build-up. The title track follows. Luca Turilli and company show that they’re not incapable of writing a classic-sounding Rhapsody song. The song is symphonic in nature, but the guitars are upfront and heavy; the vocals are big and grandiose, and not drowned out by the Choir of a Gazillion Voices. “Heart of the Darklands” has all the same attributes, only this track is faster and heavier. Both are great songs. The album takes a sharp left turn with the folkish “Old Age of Wonders,” rife with orchestration, flutes, violin, male and females vocals, a big choir, and teeny-weeny guitars with funny names plucked precisely to give off the annoying visual of silly, drunken elves and hobbits dancing around a campfire—naked. (I just puked a little.) The album then drifts to and fro between lighthearted, symphonic folk metal and a more mid-paced, heavier style. No song matches the intensity of either “Triumph or Agony” or “Heart of the Darklands.” “Silent Dream” comes close, as does parts of “The Prophecy of the Demon Knight,” a 16-minute epic. But no other song quite reaches back far enough to appease the detractors of the band’s latter day transformation. Rhapsody of Fire is the same old band of recent times.

None of this is to say these songs are bad—quite the contrary! In terms of symphonic metal, Triumph or Agony, to my ears, is largely a triumph. It’s not an album I’ll reach to as often as Legendary Tales or Dawn of Victory, or even the first Symphony of Enchanted Lands album—which I find to be the perfect balance between the band’s symphonic metal and early vaunting take on power metal. Simply put, Triumph or Agony won’t change the opinions of current or previous fans of the band. It’s good enough to please those who didn’t jump ship while the band slowly shifted styles; and it’s bad enough to solidify the opinions of those who have vilified the band and its stylistic departure. Triumph or agony. Pick your side.

By Blood Alone - Eternally (EP)

Jericho Hill Records | 2005 | 4 songs (22:30) | Progressive Gothic Metal

These days the label of “goth” is abused more than Arkansan wives in trailer parks. HIM is considered to be a gothic rock band. Evanescence is labeled a gothic metal band! The list is endless, and though it’s arguable that these bands are in fact gothic bands, generally they simply incorporate some slight gloomy elements, but gothic they are not. New England may not be a place you’d expect to find good, let alone great, goth, but Massachusetts is home to the amazing Autumn Tears—shocking enough—and now from the cold shores of southern Maine comes By Blood Alone, a goth-metal band that also encapsulates the true sense of the label “goth.” (I just used the word "gothic" so much it now has no meaning.) Like Autumn Tears, the keyboard work, provided by Jenny Williamson, is the backbone of the band, it sets the tone and atmosphere for each song, creating an eerie backdrop, which gives contradictory life to the depressive—yet sometimes poppy—songs.

The album begins with “Every Night,” a heavy but dreary song that shows lead vocalist Cruella sounding very much like the stunning Anneke van Giersbergen (The Gathering). The chorus is very catchy, the musicianship superb, and though the song is heavy, it never feels so musically; it's the atmosphere, the depressingly somber style that is its true heaviness. “Eternally” follows with a slow, pounding drumbeat, courtesy of John Hoerner (since replaced by Art Rossi), some melancholic guitar work and a soulful vocal melody. About halfway in, after the first chorus, the keyboards join in, leading into a nice solo. The song follows a slow, mournful path to its end.

Doom metal stops by in the name of “Darkman.” The creepy tempo—subtly accentuated by Cruella’s heavy-hearted and dispirited vocals, piano, violins and sorrowful guitar work by John Graveside—meanders on like the steady crank of a casket being lowered into the damp earth. The album comes full circle with “Deny Yourself,” a driving, heavy number with all the trimmings: a great, hook-laden chorus, some standout bass work from Jack Doran, keyboards (organs), double-bass, excellent vocals and some heavy, galloping riffage.

Like the legendary Bauhaus (arguably the most famous gothic rock band ever) stylistically mixed it up in the 80’s, By Blood Alone have combined many different elements from rock, metal, doom, gothic romanticism and even a little pop, and created a tapestry that is undeniably gothic in style, but also much more if you can listen beyond the free-form, minimalist nature of the songs. With this EP only having four songs it can be a little disappointing; not because the music is a letdown, but because it leaves you wanting more. It’s not easy creating genuine gothic music—whether the sub-nature of the music is ambient, rock, doom, metal, or any number of styles; but to combine multiple styles and weave such a flawless web is extremely rare. By Blood Alone have done so with Eternally.

Note: This review was originally published on MetalReviews.com.