Opeth - Orchid (1995)

Putting a flower on your cover and title might not seem like the best move for an up and coming metal band ready to release their debut record, but then again, Opeth is not your every day band, and they were not so back in the days either. The talent was still there though, and even without releasing a single demo prior, Mikael Åkefeldt and the rest of his crew managed to get a buzz going, ending up signing with Candlelight records, and record an album together with the one and only Dan Swanö. Not bad for a band that had tons of line up changes and very little experience in its first four years.

The album has a total of 7 songs, which initially sounds okay, but then you look deeper into it, and realize that two of the songs are short instrumentals, and the remaining five have a minimum length of 9 minutes. It is an incredibly meaty album that is pretty tough to get through, and it does not really help that most of them have a similar tone to them. Opeth do blend several different influences here, from black metal to jazz, but it is pretty obvious that Mikael had not perfected his craft just yet here.

With that said, "Orchid" still has a lot to offer, bringing us some very cool and imaginative progressive metal that the world had not seen before. The band never lose themselves in these mastodon songs, keeping a straight vision towards the goal. It is a skill to create such long songs while still making them entertaining, keeping a cohesion all throughout its runtime, and it is a skill that is pretty hard to master. Opeth shows instantly that they have the knowledge to make these songs interesting, without giving the listener a severe headache or nosebleed.

All of the songs have pretty distinct personalities as well, which certainly makes them stand out. The opener "In The Mist She Was Standing" is very playful in the beginning, with guitars that are borrowed from the folk metal scene, but it turns more serious the further in we go, getting darker and darker. The following song, "Under The Weeping Moon", is probably the most memorable of them all, because it sets a heavy tone instantly and continues on in sort of a satanic way, which ultimately leads to a very moody middle part that transforms into a fast frenetic mayhem, where Peter Lindgren delivers extremely simple, but super effective riffing. Absolutely love that part, my favourite bit of the album.

After the piano instrumental, known as "Silhouette", we get "Forest of October" and "The Twilight Is My Robe", both fine songs too, even if they make up what could be considered as the slowest part of the record. Not that these are slow songs or anything, but the momentum is grounded to a halt here, which is not fun. "The Twilight..." have at least some really nice instrumental work that is easy to admire, but "Forest of October" is very forgettable. The closer "The Apostle In Triumph" is a great ending to the record, with even more great instrumentation, and even some clean vocals thrown in to soften things up a bit, and show the range that Mikael has in his vocals.

Unfortunately, I do not think that any of the songs in here are any super strong outputs. All of them have some brilliance here and there, but those moments are spotty, which just ultimately shows that this band still had some way to go before fulfilling their true potential. Even if "Orchid" has some blind spots here and there, it is still an interesting record that has some creative ideas, all performed by a band that is trying their hardest to get that big breakthrough, and they sure got it after this effort, eventually blooming out to a very professional group of musicians. A nice start, but still lots of room of improvement.

Songs worthy of recognition: Under The Weeping Moon, In The Mist She Was Standing, The Apostle In Triumph

Rating: 7/10 Silhouettes

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Motörhead - Sacrifice (1995)

We are on the 12th album in the Motörhead discography review series, and so far I have felt that it has been fairly easy to classify albums into a specific mood, or a certain personality trait that just makes sense. "Sacrifice" however, is a different story. It is not that this album lacks personality, it is just that it confuses me of what that personality really is. My best guess (judging by the cover), is that it is an album that reeks death over any nation, collecting souls while blazing fast, heavy, and loud metal as the sound of the apocalypse... while also doing some oral necrophilia (WITH THAT MAGNIFICENT TONGUE!).

There really is only one thing we need to know about "Sacrifice" though, and that is if it sounds like a Motörhead album, which not surprisingly, it does. It is actually more of the older Motörhead, the more care free and less serious band that we got to know in the beginning. You will not find any emotional ballads here, only good old fashioned fun, which means sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll, something that is perfectly displayed in the 2 minute song "Sex & Death", which the band apparently just threw together in a short time at the end of recording.

"Sacrifice" was a little hard to truly take to my heart in the beginning though, for various reasons, one being that I think the songs just does not stick with me all that easily. The album certainly has a good pack of songs, and the opening title track is a stellar song with some fantastic instrumentation (especially Mikkey Dee's drumming is mesmerizing), but they just did not stick with me for very long. They were fine and all, but left me with little impressions. Another problem I have with this record is that it is so short, only 36 minutes long, despite containing 11 songs. It really flies by if you are not paying attention, and is over before you know it.

It does give me more chances to listen to it though, and after a while, it did grow on me, even if it did not become a giant or so. And as stated before, there are some neat little songs in here that does not go to history as some of the finest Motörhead songs, but they do their job really well. They help making "Sacrifice" a really smooth experience all the way through, either with some fine tuned groove ("Over Your Shoulder" and "All Gone To Hell"), some good old 50's swing ("Don't Waste Your Time"), or pure brute force ("War For War" and "Order/Fade To Black"). And while the lyrics do not leave all too many impressions, there is still some laughs to be had as always, like in "Dog-Face Boy", a song about Phil Cambpell (wonder if he knows that...).

I ultimately think that it is the instrumentation in "Sacrifice" that deserves the most credit, another example on that the band has stepped up their game since the arrival of Dee. Some riffs in here are just extremely memorable, like in "Over Your Shoulder" and "All Gone To Hell", driving the songs just the right way to make them better, a good effort from both Campbell and Würzel (who makes his last appearance). Mikkey himself does another great performance as well, pummeling on in his own pace.

So in the end, while "Sacrifice" was kind of hard to get into from the start, I eventually budged to its pressure and felt its heavy glory all over me. It is still too short and it is missing a true stand out song, but the collection of good reliable songs more than make up for it. Basically, this is a Motörhead album. It is even, fast, loud, heavy, and witty, just the way you would want it.

Songs worthy of recognition: Sacrifice, Over Your Shoulder, Dog-Face Boy

Rating: 7/10 Orders

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Fight - A Small Deadly Space (1995)

The final album of Rob Halford's Fight has quite an intriguing cover art, not because it looks good, but because it looks a little muddy, both in picture and in message. "War of Words" was quite a straight forward heavy metal record, offering few surprises, and the same goes with its cover. Now, would you guys say that this album cover says traditional heavy metal? Of course not, it looks more like some blackened doom album, or a less gruesome Slayer cover. So my natural instinct takes over and says that this is gonna be a muddy album, but it is easy to judge a album by its cover, so I ignored it, and pushed the play button.

"A Small Deadly Space" is certainly a more complex album than "War of Words". It is a album that is riskier in a lot of ways, even if this type of sound was pretty standard back in the convoluted 90's. The choruses here are not just utterings of the song's title (like it was on its predecessor), which diversifies the experience in a good way. But while the variety here is quite nice, I feel like the band had a hard time in creating a true core to it all, a foundation to rely on. Maybe that was the main reason to why the band split up just months after this was released, that Rob was not satisfied with how this was heading. The connection just was not there.

This album takes a lot of inspiration from Pantera, and while "War of Words" also did it, "A Small Deadly Space" makes it the main element, applying it to almost every song in this album. This also means that the Judas Priest vein is close to gone. No speed metal, very few screams, just groovy, heavy mauling. Personally, it is kind of odd to hear this from the Metal God, and I feel like it limits his performance quite a bit. Rob simply does not get to flex his wings in this small space (pun intended). I even hear a little Megadeth in "Gretna Greene", which is kind of interesting.

The production here is pretty gritty, which is perfect since it reflects the music pretty well. I enjoyed the fact that the bass got a lot of attention here, giving the music a heavier touch. Otherwise it is not so much I can say about the instrumentation since it is once again nothing really special. The guys does a professional job, but fail to implement a personal touch to the music. Halford is once again the man who gets most of the spotlight, but as I previously stated, the music is not really suiting him all too well, dragging his performance down as well. Overall, nothing to complain about, but nothing that is worthy of extra recognition. Well, maybe the final song of the record, "In A World of My Making", has some of the best performances in it, a fragile Rob and some nice, mellow guitar work gives the album a nice ending.

The song quality is fairly average though, with a couple of nice songs sprinkled here and there. Beside the already mentioned "In A World of My Making", we also got "Legacy of Hate", "Beneath The Violence", and "Gretna Greene" as the highlights of the album. However, they do not affect the overall feeling of the album too much, the fact that it is just like its predecessor, a bit sluggish. It feels a lot slower than it should, and I find it hard to endure all of the 48 minutes without losing focus. It is the wow factor that is missing, leaving me untouched and dry as a bone from no head banging. Not a lot of emotion going on when this record is played.

If you are a bit claustrophobic, both when it comes to spaces and music, "A Small Deadly Space" might not be for you. Despite its versatility, it sound very constricted, not finding enough room to expand its horizons. This marked the end for Fight, and while the band has been some what of a fan favourite over the years, I cannot say that I enjoyed my experience with this band. Sure, the music is not all too bad, but it never truly shines, it is just there, doing what it is supposed to do. In the end, I found "War of Words" and "A Small Deadly Space" to be quite equal, two albums that shares the same amount of positives and negatives. Fight as a whole is decent, and you should check them out if you are a fan of Rob Halford, but if I were you, I would set my expectations fairly low. After all, this is not Judas Priest 2.0.

Songs worthy of recognition: In A World of My Making, Legacy of Hate, Gretna Greene

Rating: 5,5/10 Mouthpieces

Black Sabbath - Forbidden (1995)

Released in 1995, "Forbidden" was long considered to be the very last album by Black Sabbath the world would ever see. And frankly, after hearing the album, I understand why people would think that. Not only did the band break up short after the release of this album, the music on here is some of the worst by Sabbath. Hell, even the members have bad mouthed the albums in various interviews, explaining that several factors led to what happened, everything from bad band chemistry to weird decisions from the record company.

And it starts off in the wrong foot with "The Illusion of Power", a slow, dark song that includes a spoken word part by Ice-T. Do not get me wrong, there are tons of rappers out there that are WAY worse than him, but just his presence in this album is both unnecessary and weird. And it does not get better when you discover that his band mate from Body Count, Ernie "Ernie C" Cunnigan, was the producer of "Forbidden". Body Count may be a heavy metal band, but the bridge between Black Sabbath and Body Count is way too big for them to clash, even if it only comes down to production. It is safe to say that Ernie C did not make Sabbath justice
with his work.

I do hear some intentions of good material in the album, which would mean that the band had something good going initially, but it got worse somewhere along the progress. I still think that the material is weaker than most of the material the band has released during the 90's, so even if the production was good, the end result would still be a album that could not match albums like "Headless Cross" or "Tyr". I also think the overall performance is worse than what it usually is.

But as previously stated, there are some golden moments in this records. The ballad "I Won't Cry For You" is one of my all time favourite Black Sabbath ballads, mostly because of the overall mood in the song, but also for the wonderful solo Iommi is playing. The title track has a good, sinister feel to it while "Get A Grip" is more straight on and more hard hitting. "Rusty Angels" is also a fine track with a good tempo and a interesting structure.

I am glad that this album was not the last for Black Sabbath, because "Forbidden" does not make the band justice. Bad production and vague ideas made this album what it is, and there is not many fans of the band that enjoys it. This album had potential to be a fine piece that would fit well together with the other Sabbath releases during the Harford era, but that potential got lost somewhere, possibly under a rug in the studio. So let us all forget that this existed and focus instead on the more successful albums in the career of Black Sabbath.

Songs worthy of recognition: I Wont Cry For You, Get A Grip, Rusty Angels

Rating: 4,5/10 Kisses of death

Strapping Young Lad - Heavy As A Really Heavy Thing (1995)

Most of you probably know who Devin Townsend is, and most of you may also know that his musical career started with the industrial/thrash metal band Strapping Young Lad. SYL started as a solo project for Mr. Townsend, but later developed into a full scale band. But before that happened, Devin released SYL's debut album "Heavy As A Really Heavy Thing" (bitching title by the way).

Devin performed the vocals while a drum machine did the drums and Devin plus local guest musicians (including future band mate Jed Simon) worked with the guitar and bass parts. This explains why most of the music does not feel very coherent which is of course a shame since some of the music here is pretty sweet.

"Heavy As A Really Heavy Thing" stands up mostly because of the weird humor that Devin brings to the table. From the excessive use of the word fuck to the disturbing truth of "The Filler - Sweet City Jesus", This album delivers some good and fun music that could have lifted even higher with some good band chemistry. But as usual, it is the special epicness that is the true strength of this album. Some examples can be found in "S.Y.L", "In The Rainy Season" and "Critic".

However, the main focus is laid on the heaviness, and with the fact that all the instruments is not perfectly synced, it loses some of its touch in the final product. I would probably have enjoyed songs like "Cod Metal King" and "Happy Camper" even more if it was an interacting band that performed them. The only heavy song I do not like is the sluggish "Goat" that just does not feel very fitting in this album. Otherwise is the heaviness decent, but I think that the lyrics could have been improved a lot (even though most of the lyrics have a humorous touch). Saying fuck a thousand times may be funny at first, but it is not any more after a couple of listening sessions. I sure hope that this trend will not continue onto the next albums.

Finally, I cannot let the last song of the album slip by in this review. "Satan's Ice Cream Truck" is one of the weirdest songs I have ever heard in my entire life. With a maracas beat, a catchy clinking sound in the background (that definitely fits good in an ice cream truck) and some heavy breakdowns, this one is just a big proof of Devin's silly side. It is certainly a track that will make you laugh out loud, but at the same time also rock your head back and forth. A surprisingly good song.

"Heavy As A Really Heavy Thing" surely has its fun moments, but it is just too rough around the edges. It is clearly visible that this album is the work of a solo performer + random musicians, not a band. It is still an entertaining piece that should be enjoyed by fans of heavy thrash metal. But for the next album, I would like to see Devin hire some band mates and not point out the fillers. That is my job, thank you very much.

Songs worthy of recognition: S.Y.L, In The Rainy Season, Cod Metal King

Rating: 6,5/10 Happy Campers

Iron Maiden - The X Factor (1995)

Iron Maiden's 10th album "The X Factor" is mostly recognized as the first record since the 1981 album "Killers" without Bruce Dickinson, who left the band to pursue a solo career. Instead, we have Blaze Bayley, who today is known as the singer of Wolfsbane, Blaze Bayley and the newly composed band The Foundry. A good replacement? Well, sadly no. No offense Blaze, you are a really good singer, but you do not have the same power and range like Dickinson have. So you would see that "The X Factor" was doomed from the very beginning.

Just by looking at the cover, where Eddie is being gruesomely tortured, you could already hint that "The X Factor" would become the darkest Maiden piece up to date. Just the fact that the band starts the album with the 11 minute epic "Sign of The Cross" is just dark and twisted. The song is good, but it is more suited as a closing song instead of a opener. And that song is a big proof that Bruce is a lot better on these epic and long notes then what Blaze will ever be.

"Sign of The Cross" is together with "Lord of The Flies" and "Man On The Edge" the most famous song on "The X Factor", and all of these three songs are first on this album. "Lord of The Flies" has a good riff and a catchy melody, while "Man On The Edge" emerges as a powder keg filled with a "Aces High" beat and a repetitive, but epic and great chorus.

So "The X Factor" is strong from the starting blocks, but it loses some of the momentum during the race. The sluggish "Fortunes of War" starts the downward slope, even if it picks up some speed in the end. The ride down continues with "Look For The Truth" and "The Aftermath", two very anonymous songs that needs heavy duty glue to stick onto my head.

But as the finish line is visible on the horizon, "The X Factor" picks up speed again and finally starts to deliver. First is "Judgement of Heaven" that impresses with its epic musicality and inspiring lyrical theme. Then we have the aggressive "Blood On The World's Hands" that has the best beat and the best vocal performance on this album, but the minute long slow start could have easily been skipped. The last song that leaves a standing impression on me is the emotional "2 AM" that has some of the best musical work on this album.

But the overall performance is weak. The darkness in this album weighs down the otherwise fantastic ingenuity that the band usually shows and Blaze's voice tries hard, but it cannot give the music that special dimension that Bruce's voice can. There are some bright spots in "Man On The Edge" and "Judgement of Heaven", but this album is just a very pale, dark rip off compared to the likes of "Powerslave" and "Seventh Son of A Seventh Son". If you are a Maiden fan or wish to look into the band's discography, take caution with this album. Because this is far from the Maiden that we know and love.

Songs worthy of recognition: Man On The Edge, Judgement of Heaven, Blood On The World's Hands

Rating: 4,5/10 Aftermaths