The Land of New Hope is a “Metal Opera.” In other words, it’s a concept album with multiple vocalists. It’s a pretty ambitious project, and while it succeeds on a certain level, it’s still hidebound by the conventions of Power Metal. The basic story behind The Land of New Hope is a little heavy-handed and more than a little hokey, but hey, this is fucking Power Metal we’re talking about. I’m not expecting Edgar Rice Burrows or J.R.R. Tolkien level storytelling from Timo Tolkki. All I expect from the guy is a great guitar solo. Let me begin by saying that the name of the band might mislead folks into thinking that this has something to do with the mythical place known as Avalon, where King Arthur’s body was taken after his death. This has nothing to do with that place even though the destinations share the same name. The Land of New Hope has nothing to do with King Arthur, the Holy Grail, the Round Table, or Excalibur. The setting is post-apocalyptic. The world as we know it has been destroyed by various natural disasters that were supposedly caused by global warming. The basis is a bit shaky because the disasters referenced are not manmade and have nothing to do with global warming. According to the story, civilization was destroyed by earthquakes, tsunamis and fire (volcanoes?). Tsunamis are caused by earthquakes. Earthquakes are caused by tectonic plates floating on the molten mantle of the Earth shifting and colliding with each other. Volcanoes are caused by shifts in the tectonic plates or by molten rock from the mantle breaking through a weak spot in the Earth’s crust. None of this is affected by CO2 levels in the atmosphere. You don’t have to spend a fair sized chunk of your LP apologizing for fucking up the planet if none of the disasters that destroyed civilization are our fault. Those things happened before humans existed and they’ll continue to happen long after we’re gone. After all of the “we fucked up the planet and we’re sorry” bullshit is over, the real story begins. In a nutshell, it’s like the story of the Quest for the Holy Grail (only with a pristine land substituted for the Grail). A bunch of people go searching for this mythical “Promised Land” where they can start anew because unlike the rest of the planet, it isn’t all messed up and inhospitable. A bunch of trials and tribulations ensue as the group searches for this place. A seer guides them along and advises them on their journey. Why is a seer running around in a post-apocalyptic world? Because this is Power Metal. As it turns out, the so-called “Promised Land” doesn’t actually exist as a real place. It’s in your heart, and if you’re good and pure, you can manifest this land of new hope or whatever around you. It was there all along and all you had to do was find it inside yourself (insert sarcasm where appropriate). As I said, it’s hokey and heavy-handed, but it’s kind of what I expect when I listen to a concept album written by a guy who plays in a Power Metal band. As for the music, it’s good, but not out of the realm of expectation. Timo Tolkki is a great guitar player. He doesn’t wank off too much with his guitar and he knows how to write good Power Metal music. Still, I’ve heard all of this before, mostly from Stratovarius, a band that Timo used to be in. Musically, there’s not that much distance between Stratovarius and Avalon. If you like Stratovarius already, you’ll probably like this too. My advice, though, is to not have lofty expectations for this album. It doesn’t break any new ground. It’s good for what it is: a Power Metal album that adheres to the genre’s conventions.

Some people are great musicians but poor composers. They can be taught how to play anything you throw at them, but when it comes to writing their own music, they just suck. Jason Newsted falls into this category. He’s a good bassist. He’s played with some of the biggest Metal bands out there. Still, his post-Metallica solo output hasn’t exactly been stellar. I remember hearing IR8 when their early recordings hit the internet and I was pretty disappointed. That being said, I was still perfectly willing to give Jason another shot. Sadly, Newsted is following in the footsteps of his previous solo efforts. Heavy Metal Music is flat-out boring and directionless. The twenty minute feedback solo I had to endure when watching Burning Witch play was far more engaging and exciting than anything on this entire LP. Every song has a structure that is basically the same and it involves repeating these boring riffs over and over again. Hell, I thought the first five songs on this LP were one long track because the differences between them weren’t distinct enough for me to notice. Not one song on Heavy Metal Music legitimately kicks ass, and for me that’s what kills this more than anything else. I literally don’t feel any passion in this music. On top of that, none of the material here is the least bit appealing to any of the many sub-genres of Metal. It isn’t heavy enough or atmospheric enough to be Doom. The production is bass-heavy and the guitars are primarily in the background, so fans of Power Metal won’t find this appealing in the least. It isn’t angry enough to be Metalcore or Hardcore. It isn’t aggressive enough to be Thrash or brutal enough to be Death Metal. It isn’t even angst-ridden enough to be played on college radio. I honestly can’t tell who is supposed to like this. As much as I want Jason Newsted to succeed (especially after all the shit that the Metallica guys put him through early on), I doubt he’s going to have any success with this release. Hopefully, his next LP will be better, but this is one to avoid as far as I’m concerned.

Most old school Metal fans have developed a PTSD-based cringe response whenever someone says “old school.” The words evoke the new terrain uncovered by underground Metal bands in the 1980s and 1990s, not so much musically as psychologically. Thus not much can compare, and we tense up when we hear someone refer to a band as being from that genre as most of them are pale imitations. However, Abscession makes a plausible case for inclusion because they understand the Death Metal way of composing. Where ordinary Swedish Death Metal can be imitated by stringing together horror movie soundtracks played on guitar over a d-beat for choruses contrasted to verses of chromatic rhythm riffs in a sped-up Black Sabbath/Motorhead style, Abscession understands that what makes a Swedish Death Metal band worth listening to is that it ties these riffs together. And so each of these three songs is like a small story, or drama, in that riffs change in emotionally significant ways. They abuse the buzzsaw guitar sound to make compelling rhythm riffs, then drop into longer melodic riffs like the first At the Gates and second Entombed albums combined, and finally break up that easy pattern. Dramatic events happen in this music in such a way that the order is interrupted, and must be re-negotiated through more riffcraft to return to a balance. Even though this is an eleven-minute EP, it delivers much of the power of the original Swedish Death Metal masters by adhering to this simple principle: content defines form. In addition, these guys are proficient musicians and had the wit to release this as a demo with a free download at Abscession’s bandcamp site.

Death Tyrant is a relatively new band, but most of its members have been around a while. Dark and Bloodlord (who are brothers) are or were in Lord Belial (I believe Bloodlord is no longer a member, but Dark still is). Dark was also involved in the pre-Dissection entity Satanized during their short existence, and he also played with Sacramentum. Drummer Joakim Antonsson (aka Goat) is also in Trident (which features members that were/are involved with Necrophobic and Dissection), Nox Aurea and Altar of Sacrifice. A common thread of all these bands is that they have similar styles. One of the complaints I’ve seen about Opus de Tyranis is that it’s twenty years late. Frankly, two decades late isn’t all that bad when you consider that most Black Metal bands are shamelessly aping stuff Quorthon did back in 1984 (three decades late…). Melodic Death Metal in the Gothenberg style might have seen its heyday back in the early ’90s, but quality Metal music is still quality Metal music, regardless of when it was released. The playing is good and tight, the solos are melodic and don’t degenerate into guitar wankery, and the music kicks ass. All of those are positives in my book. I will admit that the similarity in sound and style to Lord Belial does call attention to itself at times, but when you consider that two of Death Tyrant’s members are from that band, it’s no surprise. Opus de Tyranis is a pretty impressive debut album, and if this band continues to grow and evolve, I imagine that the comparisons to the other groups the members played with (or still do) will diminish. I like what I heard here and I hope to hear more from this band in the future.

For those who know their Doom, Victor Griffin is no stranger. He’s been around the block, having played in Pentagram, Death Row and Place of Skulls. The other members of In-Graved have similar pedigrees. Pete Campbell, the drummer, was in 60 Watt Shaman and Place of Skulls. Bassist Guy Pinhas was in The Obsessed, Acid King and Goatsnake. Oly Olson, who plays the Hammond organ on this release, was the drummer for Trouble. With an all-star lineup like that, you would think that this album would be a Doom masterpiece. It isn’t exactly, but it doesn’t suck by any stretch of the imagination. This is a very solid record with good sound and songs. Is it totally awesome? No. It isn’t perfect. For a debut, this is some pretty rocking stuff, though. I’ve heard this album slagged for not being heavy enough and also for being too upbeat. These are valid arguments. The thing to remember is that this is Doom Rock, not Doom Metal. These songs are very Blues-influenced Rock & Roll in style, but with a guitar tone that is reminiscent of early Black Sabbath or Trouble. Fans of old Sabbath and vintage ’70s Hard Rock will enjoy this far more than anyone else. This is good old-school Bluesy Hard Rock. It’s more upbeat than your average Doom LP, but it still retains its heaviness. Another issue some folks had with this record was the insertion of Victor’s Christian beliefs into the lyrics, particularly on songs like “Late for an Early Grave” and “Never Surrender.” Trouble and Place of Skulls had similar content in their music. Older Doom fans will remember that Trouble was called “White Metal” because of this. The songs may have “positive” themes, but this is a long way from being Altar Bridge. In fact, I don’t recall any specific places where any overtly Christian content beyond vague themes ever appeared, so it’s fairly easy to disregard. If you’re looking for abject misery and droning music, look elsewhere. If you want Bluesy Rock & Roll with a Doom edge and can possibly ignore some aspects of the lyrics, here you go.

It says something about your band when the most energetic participant on your LP is the keyboard player. Seriously, Saivon Lapsi is a borderline keyboard wanker album. Eternal Tears of Sorrow was once a Melodic Death Metal band, but from what I’m hearing on this record, the guitarists decided to stop writing melodic riffs and let the keyboardist do everything. Outside of a couple explosive solos and a few melodic riffs that could have easily been sampled, the guitarist may as well not have even been there at all. All of the melody and intricate musicianship was coming from keyboardist Janne Tolsa. Jarmo Puolakanaho and Mika Lammassaari seemed to be playing basic “chug-chug-chug” riffs that made them essentially extensions of the bassist. The entire time I was listening to this, I was hoping that they’d start getting heavier, and I also wanted them to incorporate the guitars into the symphonic stuff. None of that ever happened and I was seriously disappointed. I’m not expecting Eternal Tears of Sorrow to suddenly turn into an Atmospheric Doom band in the vein of Eye of Solitude or Mourning Beloveth, but for fuck’s sake, get the guitars in there! If I just wanted to hear keyboards noodle away, I’d listen to Yanni. I’m not bagging on Janne Tolsa. Symphonic keyboard stuff is what he does best and it shows here. In that regard, the keyboard playing on this entire LP is exceptional. What’s really needed is for the rest of the band to be playing at his level. Even though this is album number seven for the band, there’s still room for improvement. Eternal Tears of Sorrow has two guitarists that could be adding additional layers of melody and atmosphere, but they’re simply not. Despite that, Saivon Lapsi is still fairly decent. The vocals and keyboards carry this, but it doesn’t take much to see that there’s a gaping hole in their sound. If Eternal Tears of Sorrow can figure out how to incorporate their guitarists to fill that gap, their next LP could be legendary.

This band has a rather interesting history. First of all, Najand is from Tehran, Iran. That’s not exactly a hotbed of Black Metal activity by any stretch of the imagination. If my knowledge of Iran is correct, being in a Black Metal band will probably get you killed by the Sharia police. I do know that blasphemy carries a death sentence under Islamic law. One of the reasons I wanted to hear this band’s music was because Najand is from an area that is so far outside the usual places where you get Black Metal. I’ve always been into the obscure bands from obscure places because those are the ones that usually surprise you by giving a different twist on a familiar style. Najand is the brainchild of Nazhand, the sole member of the band. The original name for the band was Nazhand, but that was changed after an ugly split between Nazhand and his former label, Metal Throne Productions. Under the name Nazhand, there were 14 demo recordings and 9 full-length albums. Once Nazhand decided to change the band name to Najand, he re-recorded and rereleased a bunch of those recordings, one of which is this LP, Death! The Best Solution!. The music of Najand is somewhat mellow by genre standards. It’s still Black Metal, but it isn’t very abrasive, nor is it very dismal. It’s a bit on the melancholic/depressive side, but I don’t think this is anywhere near SDBM (Suicidal/Depressive Black Metal) territory. If Varg from Burzum smoked a huge quantity of weed (I mean Snoop Dogg/Lion levels, not just a couple hits off of the pipe) and decided to do an album, it might sound a bit like Death! The Best Solution!. There is a definite Burzum influence on the minimalistic style and guitar tones. Najand also incorporates a number of acoustic interludes and various vocal styles to affect the mood of the song. The vocals go from a strangled shriek to whispered spoken parts to mournful clean singing (and pretty much everywhere in between). While the production is a bit thin, for the most part, you can hear everything pretty distinctly. Nothing is buried and nothing is overpowering. Given that this band is from Iran and that there is only one member, I doubt situations are ideal for getting great sound in the studio. I definitely found this LP to be interesting and regardless of what the band’s name is now, I’m definitely looking forward to hearing what Nazhand and Najand are going to do next.

To say that Utah’s Caladan Brood sounds like Summoning would be a fairly huge understatement. You can clearly discern that Summoning is a major influence on this band. Compared to Summoning, though, there are still some things lacking in their music. The main thing missing on Echoes of Battle is the epic sound. If you compare Caladan Brood to Summoning, the difference is stark. Summoning is fucking epic and Caladan Brood is pretty bland. Where the music of Summoning makes you think of cataclysmic battles, deep and dark dungeons, majestic castles and vast forests, Echoes of Battle evokes images of pastoral fields dotted with grazing cattle and bored herdsmen. If a band is going to be playing Epic Black Metal, forgetting the “epic” is defeating the purpose. This needs bombast and it needs it in the worst way. Echoes of Battle has music that just doesn’t capture the imagination. Part of the problem may be the song structures themselves. The guitar parts aren’t very melodic, opting instead for a Burzum-esque drone. The result is a sound that is part minimalism and part symphonic. Imagine if Varg from Burzum let the Dimmu Borgir guys slap some keyboards over Filosofem and then got the sound from Summoning’s Let Mortal Heroes Sing Your Fame. This is kind of what this LP sounds like to me. Depressive and melancholic Black Metal doesn’t make a good foundation for the epic style the band seems to want. There is potential here, but it needs to be further developed before these guys can be considered contenders. Epic Black Metal in the Summoning vein is an ambitious style to jump into. Failing in this sub-genre is very easy to do because the requirements for success are very hard to meet. If Caladan Brood persists and manages to capture the necessary bombast and epic feeling, they’ll be contenders for a spot in the top tier. They aren’t ready for primetime yet, but I’m going to put them on my list of bands to watch out for in the coming years.

This LP was actually released in Europe last year, but didn’t get an official U.S. release until June 2013. Whether the additional wait for this was worth it depends largely upon whether or not you like Progressive Death Metal. Personally, I’m not big on Progressive Metal in general. There are a few bands that I like, but for the most part, I avoid this stuff like it was infested with the Ebola virus. Someone told me that this band was good and that the songs didn’t degenerate into rampant navel-gazing wankerdom, so I decided to check it out. In short, the person who told me those lies is going to get an ass kicking. The Emptiness Within is exactly what I think of when I hear the words “Progressive Death Metal” and that’s not good. Every song is an exercise in overly complex, anti-memorable song structures. If there’s one unforgettable riff on this entire album, I must’ve missed it amidst the sea of mind-numbingly overwrought music here. My first clue that this LP was going to be painful to listen to was when I noticed that the bassist made a point of saying that he played fretless bass. If someone makes a point of telling you that they play fretless bass, that person is a wanker. A fretless bass sounds no different than a regular bass guitar. It just has no frets on the neck of the guitar to tell you where the individual notes are. It’s more impressive if you’re a musician, but if you’re just a music fan, it’s literally meaningless. The only bassists worse than that are the ones that play a six-string bass - because a regular four-string bass guitar just isn’t fucking good enough. I imagine that the worshippers of Dream Theater will find tons of stuff on this LP to positively drool over, but frankly, I don’t listen to music in order to analyze the songs for technical points and nuance. I want Death Metal to kick my ass. I want memorable riffs and songs that make my head bang. De Profundis has fallen into the same trap that many makers of video games get ensnared by. They get caught up in the technical aspects, and much like video game makers who create games that are technically brilliant but no fun to play, De Profundis has created an LP that may be technically brilliant, but it’s no fun to listen to. If you listen to an LP for creative picking techniques or oddball song structures, you will probably like this. If you want good Death Fucking Metal that kicks your ass and breaks your neck, look elsewhere.