This month, I'd like to take a look at some the pieces of music I've downloaded from the Internet over the past several months and currently occupy my playlist (so far, only 14 tracks have made the cut). While I won't make it a habit - reviewing MP3s - I will use this forum (in the future) to pass along items of interest that you might want to explore on your own.

My current playlist begins with Ezra Winston's "The Painter And The King," but since I review several cuts taken from their two disks (to date) elsewhere, which includes this track, I'll move on to the second track, which is Bjorn Lynne's "Queen Hantilia." Wow. What a beautiful piece of music - classically influenced and full of great guitar playing. Symphonic and rich, this track has put Lynne on the list of those to explore further.

For a change of stylistic pace, the next track is "Perfect Illusion" by Blank (though something tells me this might actually be called "Impending Desire" and I've goofed somewhere). This is proggy power metal, with some Queensrÿche overtones. The vocals aren't great, but they aren't too bad; the vocalist has a rather deep voice. I like the arrangement and the music more, and have kept it on the play list. Likeable enough that I'll explore them a bit further.

[Well, in working on my review of Event's Human Condition, I noticed somewhere they had a song with what I thought was a similar title. Going back to MP3.com, I discovered it was more than just similar, it was the same. So, instead of "Blank" being the artist, it is Event, from their Electric Skies album]

Next up is Vanden Plas' "I Can See" from their latest release Far Off Grace (which Larry reviews - follow link). This particular track has a stronger Dream Theater feel, with far more oomph than DT had prior to Scenes From A Memory. I've been waiting for this disk to get its domestic release, having been impressed with The God Thing (or read Larry's review).

Because Larry had nice things to say about Angel Dust (also on the purchase list), I downloaded "Bleed" from the Century Media site. This is powerful, crunchy, with great, classic-metal sounding melodies. Dirk Thurisch has a raw vocal style that gives this track some emotional heft. It doesn't breathe very much, as everything is up front making this very dense. But, it works.

Prime Mover posted a message to the ProgHaven board (a Perpetual Motion board [Perpetual Motion is now found here]), announcing their music's availability on MP3.com. Being always on the lookout for new music, I zipped on over. Prime Mover are closer to progressive rock than to progressive metal - a bit harder edged than neo-progressive, more melodic than a lot of metal. If there's a drawback, it's that the vocals are very understated (in this, they are a bit like Ezra Winston). But, the vocalist has a great sounding voice, rich, deep, smooth, warm. This is good stuff, and I'll be checking them out further.

Scythe is next with "Eruption: The Arrow's Point." This is guitar led rock, though the keyboards aren't far behind - the music has a slight groovy kind of feel ... getting atmospheric and swirling. The vocals are way low in the mix, making this seem a mostly instrumental track. Lots of influences all wrapped up in there, stirred together. Likable.

"They Are In Between" by Avalon comes on next, another progressive metal band that I'm checking out, based on Larry's reviews. Chity Somapala's vocals are in the upper ranges (short of the stratosphere) and avoids sounding too much like LaBrie. A somewhat routine guitar riff in the middle, in that I feel that I've heard it before elsewhere in the more commercial power metal bands. For all that, I kind like it.

While Iced Earth follows with "Burning Times," since I've bought the album, Something Wicked This Way Comes and reviewed it, I'll skip over this track, to Jag Panzer, with "Iron Eagle." I can't help thinking that this sounds like what people who don't listen to metal think metal sounds like. Which could also be true of Iced Earth, I suppose. But actually, its more the "oh-so-serious-that-how-can-you-take-it-seriously" pre-chorus: deep harmony by the band repeating the title phrase thusly: "I-ron Ea-gle". But aside from that, I really dig this tune, because it sounds great, the vocals are great, there's some diversity in the instrumentation - all the things I like about Iron Maiden, to whom both Jag Panzer and Iced Earth bear striking similarities (Iced Earth even down to typography and cover illustration).

After The Gathering's "Liberty Bell,"* which I've already reviewed with their album How To Measure A Planet?, is Crimson Glory's "War Of The Worlds", which I'm still trying to find reasons to like. I'm not a CG fan from yore, so I don't have that Wade vs. Midnight issue, but I'm just not fond of screeching vocals. The music is alright enough ... but I have to say about the vocals, "why?" Why not a straight, melodic reading? Or at least only shoot for the stars at the end of each verse rather than the end of each couplet. Next.

Well, for something entirely different, I downloaded a couple of "death metal" or "doom metal" tracks from the CM site: Arch Enemy's "Pilgrim" and Dark Tranquility's "There In". Well, I can honestly say that I can take the growly thing only so far, and this is about as far. I like the music fine, and like a lot who like the music and not the vocals, I just mentally push the vocals back into the mix. Now, the vocalist for Dark Tranquility does have a nice of set of deeply toned pipes, as evidenced on the choruses, but for the verses ... not so much so. I mean, in "Pilgrim" there's so much musical energy that you expect something like Iced Earth or Jag Panzer, but, no .. .we get vocals like someone singing through a mouth full of tar. I can handle Dark Tranquility a little bit better, liking them the better of the two.

Most of these tracks were downloaded from either the Century Media site (the prog metal stuff) and from MP3.com (the prog rock stuff), excepting Ezra Winston, and (I think) Blank [that is, Event].

So, well, that's the current playlist, and it's fairly diverse, as you can see. All of which leads to this well-worn observation: this is what makes the Internet great in that I can hear great gobs of music that one might not otherwise, can try before they buy in the privacy of their own home, and make their own decisions about what is worth hearing without leaving it to the whims of radio. That is also what makes many of these startup Internet radio stations so great - until corporations latch onto them and make them just like commercial radio.

Rolf Munkes Band emailed us to share a track of theirs called "Confuse Them All," so as a "bonus" review: RMB are a guitar based progressive rock quartet band out of Germany and I have to say this track is pretty darn good, full of high energy, great runs and memorable riffs.

Up this month in the "fully fledged reviews" department are: Angra's Fireworks, Improvision's Energy ep, Grey Lady Down's The Crime, Finnforest's self-titled disk, Craig Chaquico and Russ Freeman's From The Redwoods To The Rockies, Caliban's self-titled disk, and more ... excepting for those Tangerine Dream discs promised last month...

*It's interesting to note that "Liberty Bell 7" has been finally brought to the surface, which means I'll have to go back and see if this track references "LB7" specifically, or all LB capsules generally.

Next "issue" - January 10, 2000

[Having seen the special on Liberty Bell 7 on the Discovery Channel, it all makes perfect sense now. What a fascinating tragic story, not only of the loss (and recent recovery) of LB7, but of Gus Grissom. I recommend you try to catch this special if you can - probably soon on video somewhere. ed]

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Published on: 1999-12-01 (3737 reads)