922. Edguy / Tinnitus Sanctus. 2008. 2.5/5

It's an interesting state of affairs when you compare Edguy releases during the 2000's, and the strengths and weaknesses they gain against Tobi's other project, Avantasia, and the albums it releases. I was not as enamoured with Edguy's previous release Rocket Ride as I had been with their two seminal albums that preceded it, and I admit I was expecting something bigger from this album, especially as it coincided with a third album in the Avantasia series of albums, The Scarecrow. Comparisons between all of these releases in the long run just confuses the issue even more.

Early in the decade Edguy had discovered a power to their music that really forced the band to the forefront of the power metal genre on the continent. It was this power that had gained my attention, and while I felt that the two albums in question, Mandrake and Hellfire Club were not perfect, they had enough of the elements that suggested to me that things would get even better as we moved into the following albums. The truth of the matter is that it wasn't forthcoming on Rocket Ride, and for the most part has not occurred here either. Even scarier, it was almost not existent on the following release, Age of the Joker. In the meantime, The Scarecrow was a bigger success and a more exemplary showcase of that progression in power, which was then completed two years later with the dual release of the Avantasia albums Angel of Babylon and The Wicked Symphony.
So the question needs to be asked - is the direction Edguy have gone in this period of their careers the band members decision, or has Tobi just directed his harder material to his other band, and retained his lighter stuff for Edguy? Tobi wrote all of the songs here, which suggests the latter is closer to the truth.
I'm not suggesting that this album is a complete lemon. I still enjoy the album whenever I put it on. There are plenty of songs I like a lot, and find catchy. The opening track "Ministry of Saints" and "Wake Up Dreaming Black" are the two best examples of the Edguy sound that I would reside with. "Pride of Creation" is another that i can get on board with.
It's just that overall, it lacks the depth and the strength within the songs to hold its own against other releases, and not just those mentioned above. Is it a commercial bent that has crept into the songs? I guess one could look at it that way, though I'm not sure of what the official response to that is. For the most part the songs have been smoothed over, the speed has been dropped back to a very mid-tempo range, there are few squealing solos or tricks amongst the rhythm section. The lyrics are sung well but without that kind of reach and gusto that appeared on earlier albums. "Dragonfly" could be used as an example here, though I don't want to be seen as simply picking on this song. It just plods along, at the same slow tempo, without anything happening, for almost five minutes, dragging out the middle of the album interminably when it really needs a kick along. "Thorn Without a Rose" is perhaps even less admirable, the real ballad-like song which to me has even less qualities than its predecessor.

Perhaps Edguy feel as though this is their best well-rounded album, showcasing all of their skills in a number of genres within the songs they have written. The fact that they have not been able to stick to the script, and to my ears have jumped the tracks and decided to go across the fields instead the direction they had been heading. To me that is more the pity. Lovers of Edguy, and lovers of the hard rock that was made accessible by bands such as Bon Jovi and Europe, are likely to find plenty here to like and enjoy. Those who like me had been hoping for a bit more in the speed and heavy departments will no doubt share my disappointment.

Rating:   "Tonight a thousand angels fall, heaven's up against the wall"   2.5/5

921. Megadeth / That One Night: Live in Buenos Aires. 2007. 3.5/5

When it comes to live albums, for it to be a successful and worthwhile adventure, you need to have a set list that not only commends the work done on the album that you are promoting on that current tour, but has the best tracks available from your back catalogue. You also need to have a band that is tight, raucous and so damn energetic that you can feel that pumping through your speakers when you play it at home. On the first point, this album does a pretty fair effort on the collection of songs recorded. On the second point... well...

Dave's vocals are fine here, but his actual SINGING on some of these songs is almost diabolical. I know in some ways that's a tautology, because his singing has never been the main focus of what makes Megadeth great. But in some places he's just all up in the air, no focus, no attitude. Where the hell is the attitude in "Wake Up Dead"? The lyrics are just floated out there, and let's get on with the song. It really loses its drive because of it. This is a criticism only for the fact that it is the way he sings these songs that gives it the real anger that they were written with, and if they aren't sung 'correctly' the they lose a bit of their power. Judge that against the following song, "In My Darkest Hour", which really needs to be sung right, and it is. It doesn't need the attitude as much as the angst, which is delivered well enough. This is a small and perhaps petty outlook, but this is what Megadeth is, attitude and angst, and if the leader isn't giving off the right signals, then they cannot possibly come across in the right light. "Reckoning Day". What the hell was happening there?! And yet "Angry Again" is perfect! Come on Dave.
Glen Drover is just not very good. For a guy who is in a supremely high profile metal band, his technical ability is very low. And I know he has had to come in following a couple of pretty amazingly technically brilliant guitarists in Marty Friedman and Al Pitrelli, but if you are going to play someone else's material, you either have to play it the way they did and well, or make it your own and play it well. I have no real argument with the songs he has been involved with from The System Has Failed album (though he didn't write or record them), but in the main the older songs really are lacking in his guitaring. Absolutely I am biased, because I had the misfortune to see him completely fuck up the middle part of "Holy Wars" in Sydney in 2004, so much so that it was embarrassing. James McDonough on bass and Shawn Drover on drums are both solid without being anything outstanding. As much as Dave gives them grief, Pitrelli and Jimmy DeGrasso were (and are) far better on their instruments than the Drover brothers.
The set list here is well balanced between the songs that are from the current album they are touring on, and all eras of the band. The dragging feature for me is that the new songs, with the possible exception of "Die Dead Enough" just aren't very interesting, and in the main the other songs that were on the previous tour, and found themselves on Megadeth's first live album Rude Awakening, sounded much better on that release. And the older songs obviously sound more upbeat and aggressive, because they are and they were! Compare the drudgery of "I'll Be There' and then the excitement that bursts immediately following with "Tornado of Souls". It's no contest.

Thus we have an interesting comparison between band members and released music. This line up of Megadeth would be close to its least interesting, and some of the songs close to its least interesting. When the old songs come on the album lights up, and yet when the newer songs are on it is like a morgue. In the long run, as an overall package, there are better Megadeth live releases out there.

Rating:  "You feel my fingertips, you won't forget my lips".  3.5/5

920. Armored Saint / 2009 Australian Tour Compilation. 2009. 4/5

To mark the first tour to Australia by the mighty Armored Saint, this package was released for all of us Australian fans, according to Blabbermouth to offset the fact that most of the Saint's back catalogue was impossible to source in our corner of the world. In many ways this was true, though the internet had improved this remarkably in recent years.

The album was loosely described as a greatest hits contribution, taking some of the best known Armored Saint tracks and putting them together with some live tracks to flesh out the back end of the release and make it an attractive proposition. Which it undeniably is. Songs were sourced from every Armored Saint album to that point, with "March of the Saint", "Can U Deliver" (live) and "Madhouse" (live) from MARCH OF THE SAINT, "Long Before I Die" (live) and "Nervous Man" (live) from DELIRIOUS NOMAD, "Chemical Euphoria" (live) from RAISING FEAR, "Reign of Fire", "Last Train Home", "Tribal Dance", "Symbol Of Salvation" and "Hanging Judge" from SYMBOL OF SALVATION, and "The Pillar" and "After Me, The Flood" from REVELATION.

Fans could probably argue over the validity of the songs chosen here as being a best of, but to be honest any fan who was going to see the band when they toured would already have had all the albums anyway. For anyone who is a newcomer to the band, this gives a good overview of the band's career to that point in time. What annoyed me more about this release was that I discovered it after the tour took place - a tour I had no idea was occurring. D'OH!

Rating:  "It's the March of the Saint!"   4/5.

919. Judas Priest / Sad Wings of Destiny. 1976. 3.5/5

In many ways it is a miracle that Judas Priest became the band that they have, an inductee into the somewhat controversial Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022. Because their start had been fraught with barriers and speed humps. The initial band was formed in 1969 before dissolving the following year, after their first record deal was lost due to the label collapsing. The name was resurrected in 1971 when Al Atkins convinced the band he had joined after its demise, Freight, should change its name to Judas Priest. This band, which included guitarist K.K. Downing and bass guitarist Ian Hill, now fought the eternal battle of young bands to be recognised and gain that long desired record contract. Atkins would leave the band due to the lack of income it was producing, and was replaced by the brother of Hill’s then girlfriend, Rob Halford. A fortuitous meeting indeed. A succession of drummers finally saw John Hinch settled on the drum seat, and after signing a deal with Gull Records, Glen Tipton was added as a second guitarist. This line up then went into the studio to record their debut album “Rocka Rolla”, produced on a measly budget of 2000 pounds. This was not the least of the album’s problems. Producer Rodger Bain, who had helmed the first three Black Sabbath albums amongst others, took decisions with the recording that the band was not in favour with, increasing the tension of the recording. The tone of the album was lightened and dullened significantly by songs that were left off this album at Bain’s request. The production was average at best, and woeful if you were to be honest. And there was almost zero promotion of the album by the label which led to it barely raising a ripple in the market. And the band was broke. The band could quite easily have folded at this point in time.
Instead, they soldiered on, and looked to create a second album, one that they no doubt hoped would come to represent what the band was looking for in their music. Hinch left the band, and was replaced by Alan Moore, who had been one of the rotating circuit of drummers the band had had prior to gaining their recording contract. Gull Records again offered only a 2000 pound budget for the second album. Having moved on from Bain as producer, the band were offered the duo of Jeffrey Calvert and Geraint Hughes to produce the album. These two were the main members of the pop group Typically Tropical, who had just topped the UK singles chart with their song “Barbados”, Gull Records first hit track. Not doubt the record label was hoping that these two could rub ff their magic on Judas Priest as well. The band had two weeks in the studio, recording for 12 hours a day, to get the album finished.
The band was still a long way from the black leather and studs heavy metal image that they would pursue and popularise in future years, and having members of a pop group producing their album might look like a strange move on paper. But the band was determined, they believed in themselves, and they wanted to show the world that they were more than what they had offered on their debut album. The result of all of this produced the band’s sophomore album, one that has had mixed success over the years, under the title of “Sad Wings of Destiny”.

If you had happened to stop off on your journey to the past, and taken in Judas Priest's debut album “Rocka Rolla”, you could be forgiven wondering just what it was that allowed the band to eventually find their feet in the music world, and become the juggernaut that they became. There are moments on that album where you can hear the sound of what became the basis of Judas Priest’s legacy, though it may not surprise you when listening that songs or portions of songs that were rejected for that album by the producer eventually found themselves onto “Sad Wings of Destiny”, and acts as a much better assessment of where the band was coming from at the time of its release. At least three songs that appear on this album - the brilliant and timeless "Victim of Changes", the rocking "Tyrant" and equally foot tapping "Genocide" - had their formation before the recording of the debut album, but were left off that vinyl. Hindsight would suggest that that was perhaps an error, but the fact they appear here shows the strength of the songs that they could force their way onto the second album.
"Victim of Changes" has been a part of Judas Priest folklore forever, a song that has some reflections of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody", in that two songs were woven together to produce the one, where it ebbs and flows with harder and softer parts, with loud then quiet guitars, with Rob's vocals subtly moving between the sweet soft section through to the hard pumping screams which he is renown for. Those two songs, “Whiskey Woman” which was eventually left off of the debut album, and “Red Light Lady” which Halford had brought from his previous band, were brought together to create what became “Victim of Changes”, with altered lyrics and suitably recomposed stretches to make it into one. The wonderful guitar solos drawn through the track pulverise the speakers, bringing a huge sense of menace that rarely comes across on the opening album – and then we have the breakdown in the middle of the song, where everything drops in tempo and energy, slowly babbling along like a country stream, but then building to the raging torrent that crashes out as Rob unleashes with his cry of the title of the track – no, I am not even going to try and attempt it – and through to the conclusion. At almost eight minutes long it is the first Judas Priest classic, and contains everything you need to know about the band in one song. And 50 years on, it is still a dominating feature of the band's incredible discography.
Just for good measure, let’s follow that up with “The Ripper”, just to prove that we can also write and perform a perfect 3 minute track that acts as a true single release that does not compromise the principles that the band is beginning to build on this album. It has also stood the test of time since its release. This is the song that perhaps best showcases what Judas Priest brought to the table. The twin guitars of Tipton and Downing really fire here, in the short, sharp sub-three minutes that the song goes for, while Halford's amazing vocal cords get their full work out during the song. It is still as good today as it was on its release, and it is the most iconic of Judas Priest tracks. How can you not love it?
So we start the album with the heavy metal epic, and follow it up with the heavy metal single. What next? Well, how about going all in on the sound that they produced for their first album, but dial it up to eleven in the intensity scale, and utilise a production that doesn’t let it down? What a song “Dreamer Deceiver” is, and arguably one of the most underrated Judas Priest songs. And, look, this may well be because it does mirror the style of song that came from “Rocka Rolla”, and that as the metal ballad of the album it may lose out in comparison to some similar tracks that come down the line (“Beyond the Realms of Death” is just the first one that comes to mind), but this track is unforgettable if only for Rob Halford’s vocals. I mean – fuck me – this guy can fucking sing! The notes he hits on this track are unobtainable. I honestly don’t believe a human can do what he does on this song. And it builds throughout. Yes, it begins as a softer style, the clear guitar with Rob crooning in opening section, which would gives first listeners time to pause and consider just where this song fits and where it is heading. And the build is subtle throughout the almost six minutes of this song. And the way it continues to build until it segues and busts into the next track is also where the beauty of this song comes in. Incredible.
That next song is the metal style of “Deceiver”, returning the album to its heavier dispensation. Like “The Ripper”, it is the short sharp metal anthem type, ripping in with great metal riffs and solos along with Ian Hill’s super bass line and Halford charging on vocals. It completes the first side of the album in wonderful fashion. I do often speak of great album A sides, the ones that have no flaws and excite you time and again when you play the album. Side A of “Sad Wings of Destiny” is definitely in that class.
The second side opens with “Prelude”, a Glen Tipton instrumental piece that banks on piano and synth along with guitars to bring it together. It definitely has Queen-adjacent sounds to it, especially in the Brin May-esque guitar. This then segues directly into "Tyrant", a far more straight forward heavy track, driven along by a hard riffing chorus of the guitars, the compelling drum beat and Halford's vocals in a middle stream range that allows the layman to sing along without having to stretch themselves. And that comes as a relief for most of us. The dual harmony vocals in the chorus give it a lovely commercial type feel without losing the Priest integrity, and Halford’s straight forward tough vocal through the verses is reminiscent of what was to come on future albums. "Genocide" follows a similar path, forming the basis of the standard Priest formula for the present and the future, with the great rhythm section holding together the song, allowing both Tipton and Downing their chance to shine on their solo pieces and Halford to control the song through his vocals. This sits back in a mid-range tempo that many of the standard, album-only Judas Priest tracks have a tendency to do, and lyrically it acts more provocatively than most of the band’s tracks to this point in time had done.
"Epitaph" is the piano based song with layered vocals and several different nuances. At times it sounds as though it is mimicking a Queen song, at other times Halford-with-piano sounds like he is channelling Billy Joel. And then there is a little bit of Black Sabbath’s “Changes” about it. This is another Tipton solo composition, which like “Prelude” brings a different vibe to this album than most fans would have expected, or even prefer. The album then concludes with "Island of Domination", a faster rolling rollicking track that for me at least doesn’t have the same wonderful energy and genius aspects to it as other songs on this album. The end of the album probably misses a beat or two, which seems a shame given the excellence that is covered here.

My introduction to Judas Priest is something that you have already heard before on this podcast, not too many episodes ago as it turns out for the “Point of Entry” album, and which you will heard again in the very near future for yet another Judas Priest anniversary album episode. Suffice to say it came in my final years of high school, when my Heavy Metal Music Dealer recorded the first side of their live album “Unleashed in the East” for me at the end of another album he was putting on cassette for me. And yes, that was surely the most awesome way to be introduced to Judas Priest. Then followed the videos on “Rage”, such as “Freewheel Burning” and “Turbo Lover” and “Breaking the Law”, and I was immediately on board.
This album, as with most of the 1970’s album’s, came a little while after that. I collected the 1980’s albums, and after having gorged on “Painkiller” in 1990 and 1991, I knew I needed everything that Judas Priest had to offer, and I began to buy up all of those other albums. When I got to “Sad Wings of Destiny”, there was a small sense of slight disappointment. Not about the album. But by this time I knew the songs such as “Victim of Changes”, “The Ripper”, “Tyrant” and “Genocide” so well, but from the amazing “Unleashed in the East” live album, so it was the live versions of these songs that I knew, the heavier faster versions. And, on initial comparison to the versions that were here on the studio album... well they just compare. Obviously, over time listening to this album, that faded to nothing. I could still love the live versions of those songs, but the ones presented here on this album had those other flourishes and touches to them that made them unique.
Listening to this album over a decade after it was released, and knowing the albums that followed it, does change the impact it had on me as a listener. Compared to those that had the opportunity to listen to it on its release, and get the full impact of the album compared to that first album, my initial thoughts were less engaged. Like I said, knowing basically half the album prior to listening to it made it a different experience, because I was wating for and wanting to listen to those songs I knew, and I perhaps gave less emphasis to those that I didnt know. And maybe judged it that way too. And given the waves of change that do come with the songs on this album, that wasn’t necessarily the best way to approach it. Again, over time, that changed for me, and I appreciated the album far better as time went on.
In today’s terms, 50 years on from the release of this very important album, you have heard today my true feelings on this album. The majority of it is amazing. Listening to it again this week has been a pure delight. And yes I would suggest that the second side of the album is a lot less excellent over than the first, and that some of what appears on the second side is only above average at best, but then again that does remain true for many Judas Priest albums. A lot of the hard work done by the first half of the album does get pulled back a little by the second half.
Following this album, Judas Priest, still under heavy financial pressure from the lack of funds and promotion from their record label, took the chance to sign a contract with CBS Records, gave thema budget 30 times greater for their next album. It did mean that in breaking that contract, the rights to their first two albums remained with Gull for decades. In the long run, it was a small price to pay to find a way to make a career that included making money in the music business.
“Sad Wings of Destiny” remains a landmark in the Judas Priest catalogue. One that pointed to a brand-new sound, and a brand new direction, and becoming the not-so-victim of changes of their own.

918. Russell Allen & Jorn Lande / The Revenge. 2007. 2.5/5

When I first discovered this project a few years ago, the attraction was the combination of two of the great modern day vocalists, literally battling it out on an album, trying to outdo the other on each song. Surely, if you are going to call an album The Battle, this is what is going to happen, right? OK, well it wasn't quite that, but the concept had enough momentum after that first release to see it repeated again two years later, which brought forth The Revenge.

As with the first album, the driving creative force is Magnus Karlsson, who created all of the music and lyrics, as well as playing the majority of the instruments. It's quite a construction, to practically have complete control over the whole project as though it were a solo album, and yet the end result is titled after the two lead vocalists, and it is their participation that draws in the fans rather than Magnus himself.
Once again, as with the first album of this project, there is a mixture of styles within the general euro metal genre that this sits. With one person in the main chair when it comes to writing and recording the songs, there is the danger that it can get a bit monotonous, or with a similar streak running through the backbone of the songs on the album. Formula-driven is probably the phrase I'm looking for, and this was countered on the earlier effort by the extraordinary voices of the two combatants, Russell Allen and Jorn Lande. To be honest, that hasn't changed too much this time around. Perhaps the main bone of contention I have with this album is that we heard most of this on the first album. Personally after that effort, and with a second album coming out, I was hoping for something more, a stretch from the usual to extend the talents of the two vocalists. I was looking for more of the 'battle', or for the combination of the two to push each other to new heights. While much of the material here is fine and listenable, none of it is remarkable. There was again a real chance to give these two guys a chance to 'bond' on tracks, but it doesn't really show. Perhaps not surprisingly, their combination works much better on their shared pieces in Tobias Sammet's Avantasia project than they do here.
That's not to say this is a lost cause. Completely. There are songs that have the right energy musically and duelling vocally that make them well worth listening to. Perhaps most telling is that, as both vocalists have so many other projects that they are involved in, that everything here gets judged against those, and it therefore makes it difficult case for these songs, given that they had no hand in writing any part of them, and that that job fell to one person. But their singing is magnificent again here, and they are at their best when they have some real energy in the track and they extend their range with emotion and desire. On the tracks that are slowed down and are looking for melancholy and reflection (ok, look, they're pretty much power ballads, but let's not get into that argument again) they still sound great, but the tracks don't work as well.

Overall, after the initial excitement wore off of the first album's partnership, you are left with the same kind of material here on the second album, but it just doesn't have the same impact this time around. Everything is performed with precision and it all sounds magnificent. In the long run, it's all just a little... boring.

Rating:  "Soon you will understand, soon you will see"  2.5/5

917. Stratovarius / Polaris. 2009. 3.5/5

I can honestly admit that I had probably come to the end of my tether with Stratovarius the band after the last few releases. I mean, despite continued expectations of grandeur, I was wondering whether or not they had outlasted their welcome, and if it was all becoming a bit too hard. When Polaris was released, it had been four years between releases, and inordinate amount of time in the world of Stratovarius, and I guess my feelings about those recent albums had dulled down enough that I wanted to check this out and see if something had been done.

What had been done was the moving on of two former members of the band, bass guitarist Jari Kainulainen earlier, and more significantly Timo Tolkki. With this in mind, would the writing of this album be affected, and how? Well, there is no doubt it has been affected, as new bass guitarist Lauri Porra has made a major contribution on this album, penning five of the eleven tracks.
The album opens with the blasting qualities of "Deep Unknown", which despite the over emphasising of the chorus vocals and the Dream Theater-ish keyboards is a good opening track. "Falling Star" which follows has the most atypical heavy metal sound to it, with a heavy influence of the bass guitar and lead guitar, with the keyboards almost (I say 'almost') taking a back seat for the majority of the song. There is a bit of grunt in the guitar riff, and it chugs along rather than blazes along. An interesting change-up, and not a disappointing one. Then comes "King of Nothing", which increases this shift down into a darker metal, with harder and heavier guitar and bass work, a slower, almost grungier pace, and vocals that emphasise this heavier sound. It is so unlike power metal - in fact, it really isn't - but it works here for the band, and is intriguingly interesting and empowering.
From here though we plough back into the mix with "Blind", a perfect Jens Johansson track, blending speed within the framework of the duelling guitar and keyboards and excelling vocals along the way. This is followed up by the change up of "Winter Skies", which combines similar feelings of good tidings from the preceding track, with a quiet, almost tranquil period in the middle of the song that stretches for about a minute of just quiet keys. It doesn't really work for me. In fact in quite annoys me. But those parts of the song that precede and follow this period of inactivity are enjoyable enough.
"Forever is Today" starts off with the perfect combination of solo guitar work and keyboards, before blazing away through the song in exquisite style. This is the kind of track that has always been my favourite from Stratovarius, and for me they just haven't come along enough. This is a beauty though, and the fact that it is written by newcomer Porra is a real pleasure. "Higher Ground" which follows this also comes across in a similar pleasing way, with speed and music that moves at a clip that the best Euro speed/power metal attacks at.
"Somehow Precious" is the first backwards step the album takes. It reverts to the slow drudgery of the power metal ballad, stripping all speed and most of the musical instruments out of the song to leave the mournful vocals to take centre stage, and drag the album back into the clichéd territory that other albums of this genre tend to do. It isn't a complete loss, but it really saps my enjoyment out from this point of the album.
What comes next are three songs all written exclusively by Porra, and they are somewhat bereft of the confidence I had showed in his material from earlier in the album. "Emancipation Suite Part I: Dusk" and "Emancipation Suite Part II: Dawn" are very much of the progressive rock nature of the 1970's, and if taken in that nature can be listened to and enjoyed on that level. What drives me to distraction is the difference in nature between these two songs and the rollicking fun of the tracks on the first half of the album. Still...
After all of the good work that is done on the early tracks of the album, the disappointing aspect for me is the way the closing track on the album comes across. "When Mountains Fall" is that stereotypical power ballad, the kind that makes my skin crawl, and the kind that for me destroys the mood of an album in an instant. Seriously, why would you want to finish an album on this depressing, soul destroying note? It continues to be beyond my comprehension, and here it really drags down the final analysis of the album for me.

So for me, Stratovarius continue on their quest to annoy the hell out of me with their music. There is no doubt that they enjoy the music they produce, and that it sits comfortably in the melodic range that they wish to be in. It's just that, for my music tastes, they continue to be just lacking a couple of elements that would take them to that higher level, and become an essential band in my collection. Again here they have produced some excellent songs and music, and their musicianship is unquestioned, but at the end of the day - despite the fact that this was their best release for some time when it came out - they are just not quite able to jump from good average to superior. However, apart from all of that, this is still worthy of a listen to those who may be wondering what it is that Stratovarius are about.

Rating:  "Your fate is what you make of it, so seize your day"   3.5/5.

916. Sonata Arctica / Pariah's Child. 2014. 2.5/5

If you have followed my reviews of albums over the past ten to fifteen years, you will be fully aware of my fascination and frustration with Sonata Arctica, as a band and of the music they play. When I first discovered them all those years ago, I was amazed at their talent, their ability on their instruments, and the excellence of their vocal ability. More than anything else, all of this is perfectly portrayed in the cover versions of songs such as Scorpions "Still Loving You" and Iron Maiden's "Die With Your Boots On", which are the reason I started following this band. The fact that they have never lived up to those expectations of mine is eternally annoying to me.

Here on Pariah's Child, I am met with the same old problems and prejudices that I have met on most of the previous albums Sonata Arctica has released. About half of the album works on a level that is good enough for me. And I don't pretend that isn't an unfair comment, just for the fact that I would like them to be a bit more traditionally heavy, and have less reliance on the keyboards. But that is the way I have felt about their music for some time. Songs such as "The Wolves Die Young" and "Running Lights" are very good songs, and both of these are an excellent way to open the album. But what I wouldn't give to hear just a bit more grunt in them. I guess the best way I can describe them is that they are 'harmless', good songs with great musicianship that are easy to listen to, without creating great spasms of brilliance within you.
The middle of the album employs some different musical techniques that will either stun you or lose your interest entirely. I'm not sure what the middle of "Take One Breath" was looking to achieve with it's lullaby keyboard sound, but it just messes up the song for mine. "Cloud Factory" and "Blood" are on a par with the opening two songs, creating the solid core of the Sonata Artica sound. "What Did You Do in the War, Dad" is a very melancholic style, and while not a unique sounding song is a mix of ranges and emotions within the song itself, and is the most difficult song on the album to categorise, and to determine whether I like it or dislike it. While it settles in the ballad like style, it has enough force and momentum behind it to bring it up a notch in its estimation.
"Half a Marathon Man" is my favourite song on the album, because it does all of the things I like most about the band in the best possible way - it's a fast paced song, the vocals have some grunt behind them, the guitar and keys flow together perfectly and showcase the best of their abilities, it doesn't take itself too seriously, and you can drum along with it and sing along with it without any bad convictions. More of this please!!
"X Marks the Spot" isn't a bad follow up, combining a lightened lyrical base ala Helloween and Gamma Ray but without the dominance in music that those two bands inject. "Love" is sterile. Not necessarily the emotion, but this song is. Truly, as I say in any review of this type, the power ballad is a blight on music, and this song is no exception. The closing song "Larger Than Life" extends to almost ten minutes, which probably outstays its welcome by some margin.

I've said it all before when it comes to Sonata Arctica. I keep coming back to them every new album because I still harbour hope that they can harness their obvious talent and produce that album that really takes my breath away, grabs me around the throat and knocks some sense into me. Once again, that hasn't happened here. Pariah's Child is another solid release from a very good power metal band, with some good material and some average material. The fans of this genre of music should find more than enough to satisfy them on this album, but there will be the others who, like me, will again leave this somewhat disappointed.

Rating:  "You look like a really nice guy, but can you keep up with me?"  2.5/5