IRON MAIDEN LIVE IN SYDNEY

Sydney Entertainment Centre
February 24, 2011

With approximately half the audience still filling local bars or crowding the merch stalls, Rise to Remain opened tonight’s show, the second of Iron Maiden’s warm-up performances ahead of their Soundwave Festival appearances. Looking every bit like his father’s son, Austin Dickinson led his young troupe through some energetic if fairly standard metalcore. As much as they’ve played the past two years, Rise to Remain still has some way to go to really develop their own identity and looked a little self-conscious on the vast Entertainment Centre stage playing to almost no one. Nevertheless, they fared much better than Maiden’s openers on the last Australian tour (Steve Harris’ daughter Lauren and the awful emo band Behind Crimson Eyes).


Midway through Iron Maiden’s set, Bruce Dickinson acknowledged that tonight’s audience – unlike the massive sell out tour two years ago – was mostly the band’s old faithful, the die-hards who didn’t come along just to hear the "hits". Which was just as well for them. Fully half the set was drawn from the band’s post-2000 comeback era, none of which had ever been played to an Australian audience before. But that didn’t seem to matter, and it was great to see that a good majority of the crowd were able to sing along with the five Final Frontier tracks that were aired, four of which made up the first five songs of the set. Of those, the opening salvo of "The Final Frontier" and "El Dorado" got the warmest response as Maiden burst onto the stage but when the introductory riffing of "2 Minutes to Midnight" was unleashed, a massive roar like 9000 people going "ROOOAARRRRR!!!" almost drowned out the band.

"The Talisman" seemed like an odd choice to follow that, but as perhaps one of their most technically demanding songs I could understand it being played so early. This one seemed to split the crowd a bit, but the band of course pulled it off. "Coming Home" was an early highlight, and "Dance of Death" is a much better song live. One of the biggest reactions, however, was reserved for "The Wicker Man", a clear sing- along favourite being played in Sydney for the first time with the crowd almost lifting the roof off and the band reponding by pulling out every stop.

Unlike the previous tour, Dickinson only got into costume once, for the always ball-tearing "The Trooper" during which he must have run at least a mile waving two Union Jacks. Yet again, as usual, he proved himself to be metal’s – indeed, one of the entire rock world’s – consummate frontman. He engaged everyone in the crowd, pointing out sections for special attention, offered his "Scream for me, Sydney!" rally cry several times (not as often as last time though, thankfully) and always has something poignant, interesting or funny to say. He made jokes about Shane Warne as he tossed a pink bra into the crowd from where it had (apparently) come. He talked about playing in Singapore and in Indonesia, in front of Islamic "metal brothers" who don’t care about race or religion when they’re rocking out to Maiden and in a gesture that caused one of the biggest cheers of the night, dedicated "Blood Brothers" to our cousins suffering from the earthquake disaster in New Zealand. And he never stopped moving. Nor did guitarist Janick Gers, whose crazy dance steps and rubbery contortionist moves when he slips into his own zone are as much of a spectacle as the singer’s exuberant athleticism.

For their part, the rest of the band were hardly boring to watch either, for without a lot of extravagant props and flashy stage effects, Iron Maiden relied on their music and natural showmanship to keep the crowd engaged as the back half of the show was filled out with more familiar songs like "Fear of the Dark" and "Iron Maiden" that was, of course, the cue for a giant red-eyed alien Eddie to prowl the stage and engage in a guitar duel with Dave Murray.

"The Number of the Beast", "Hallowed be Thy Name" and "Running Free" were reserved for the encore, the second of which not only got the greatest cheer of the night but left me both with no voice and a very clear understanding of why I and thousands of others love this band so much. Iron Maiden were truly outstanding tonight and if anyone went away disappointed that they didn’t play "Run to the Hills" then they should kill themselves.



The Final Frontier
El Dorado
2 Minutes to Midnight
The Talisman
Coming Home
Dance of Death
The Trooper
The Wicker Man
Blood Brothers
When the Wild Wind Blows
The Evil That Men Do
Fear of the Dark
Iron Maiden

--

The Number of the Beast
Hallowed be Thy Name
Running Free

STRATOVARIUS: Elysium

Produced by Matias Kupiainen
Released: 2011

For everyone who's championed them over the years, I've always found Stratovarius to be a decidedly uneven prospect, with their obvious abilities hindered by a propensity for over-the-top histrionics and a need to be neo-Classical at the cost of all else, fuelled mainly by Timo Tolkki's desire to show the world what a flash guitarist he is.


It appears that with the final, ignomious departure of the tragic Tolkki, the band's creative centre now revolves around 27-year old guitar prodigy Matias Kupiainen, a man who was only just born when Stratovarius first formed. It has never been more clear that new blood can inject life into a tired old band than here: not only did Kupiainen write the majority of the tracks, he also produced, and a remarkable job he has done.

There hasn't been much of an effort at reinventing themselves here. Really, Elysium is Startovarius refining their sound: winding back the overly flouncy keyboards and the overt neo-classicism in favour of song-craft and consistency. With four out of five members of the band contributing tracks, Elysium is the most diverse Stratovarius album in many years, or possibly ever.The first five songs are pretty standard, if solid, power metal songs and the opener is definitely strong. The tone is set early: Jens Johansson's keyboards help fill out the sound rather than dominate it, coming forward only to solo or trade-off with Kupiainen, Lauri Porra's bass is discernible and, perhaps most importantly, Timo Kotipelto's voice is fine. I've had issues with him in the past because he often goes off-key -- either on purpose or because he's stretching his range -- but here he's spot on. "Lifetime in a Moment" makes the transition from good to great for Elysium, where simplicity meets majesty, and "Event Horizon" is not just blazingly fast but heavy, much heavier than usual.

The true highlight of the album however is the title track itself, a sweeping 18-minute epic that dwarfs not only the rest of Elysium but possibly everything they've ever done. Normally a track this long by almost anyone would leave me screaming for the exits, but this is the true display of brilliance that possibly everyone in Stratovarius has always strived for. Every member shines, even the usually almost invisible Porra gets a solo, and Kotipelto has never sounded better. The ebb and flow of the song's three main sections mesh perfectly and the song works so well it doesn't seem anywhere near as long as it is

I never thought I'd write so much about a Stratovarius album without most of it being ridicule, but they deserve only high marks for this.

1. Darkest Hours

2.Under Flaming Skies
3 Infernal Maze
4. Fairness Justified
5. The Game Never Ends
6. Lifetime in a Moment
7. Move the Mountain
8. Event Horizon
9. Elysium

Rating: 85%

THE ETERNAL: Under a New Sun

Produced by Jeff Martin
Released: January 2011

Under a New Sun is the fourth album from Melbourne's The Eternal, and marks a distinct transition from their previous work. Having evolved from its early days as an Anathema-like doom band, the three-piece is now possessed of a more organic, robust and mystical sound that is clearly demonstrated here.


The album opens with a "Control" displaying a strong, dark, modern rock style. With Mark Kelson's heavily syncopated vocals and the processed scream of "And now you want control!", it actually recalls the heavier moments of groups like Disturbed and Stone Sour. It is certainly quite different from what The Eternal has presented so far, a very long way from the gloomy doom-laden debut of 2004.

With the vastly talented Jeff Martin in the producer's chair, The Eternal has cranked up the hooks to a degree more usually seen in the pop world, but over the course of the next few songs Martin's creative influence appears in danger of overwhelming the band. The title track is remarkably like Kav Temperley from Eskimo Joe singing with The Tea Party and the hook is very much like the one in that band's song "Temptation". "Delirium and Desire" begins with a ghostly choir that invokes some Pink Floyd-style chords and organ, then the big chorus sounds rather like, well, like Temperley and The Tea Party teaming up again. "Nothing Remains Without Us" is the The Eternal displaying something more of themselves, with an explosive guitar solo and a darkly heavy riff. Yet the spectre of the producer's former band continues to haunt Under a New Sun's first half. This culminates in "The Sleeper" that, with Martin on lead vocals, sounds like it could have been lifted directly off Splendor Solis. But it is after this point where the band seems to really find its true voice, taking the somewhat overt influences of the first half and crafting them into something more their own.

On "A Thousand Shades of You", The Eternal really steps up, laying down a heavy, creeping guitar riff for Kelson's vocals, this time pitched a step or so higher. Underneath the multi-layered voices of the massively hooky chorus, the band adds ethereal wailing and melodies and a glorious solo caps it all off. Brilliant. Booming drums and a classic rock riff power "Collapse" towards a truly epic 70s-style guitar solo. Again, the chorus is hookier than a pelagic long line. "Cast in Stone" is another for which the only short description is "epic", where Kelson throws huge riffs at each other that then clash heroically against Marty O'Shea's pounding drums. It's like the band waits until now to really let themselves go and bring the album to a rousing crescendo.

Under a New Sun is The Eternal's best and most expansive album yet and to deny its catchiness is practically a sin against nature. It's a very good release, but one hampered somewhat by a frustrating feeling of being overshadowed by its influences, resulting in something that probably doesn't quite show the originality that it really should. Nonetheless, anyone who enjoys dark, contemporary rock with a progressive twist should really enjoy this.

1. Control
2. Under a New Sun
3. Delirium & Desire
4. Nothing Remains Without Us
5. Eclipse
6. The Sleeper
7. A Thousand Shades of You
8. Collapse
9. Despondency
10. Cast in Stone
11. Departure

Rating: 85%

DEVILDRIVER - Beast

Produced by Mark Lewis
Released: February 18, 2010

It's awesome when an album can just pick you up by the throat and hold you there. Before this came on I was planning on doing a bunch of other stuff, but two songs in Beast was having its way with me and wouldn't let go.


Whoever's been supplying Dez Fafara with angry pills has upped the dosage to a dangerous level lately, because he sounds like a man possessed by nothing but hatred and rage. And with the rest of the guys in the band all contributing guitars and bass, Beast has the fattest riffs and the most pummelling groove of DevilDriver's career. Let's not forget John Boecklin's huge drumming either. The dude certainly had his work cut out for him here, and he delivers in spades. Fafara clearly wasn't joking when he said that this was the most extreme DevilDriver yet. Simply everything has been beefed up to a degree beyond everything they've done so far.

Beast is an immense record, opening with the epic-sounding violence of "Dead to Rights" that will make their insane circle pits positively lethal once it's unleashed live. Yet that is merely the beginning of close to an hour's worth of unrelenting, unforgiving metal aggression. "Bring the Fight (to the Floor)" and "Hardened" only heighten the intensity level until the band has become a seemingly unstoppable hate machine. By the time of "Blur", Fafara is shrieking "I don't know you but I fucking hate you" like a complete madman. "Shitlist" is somewhat looser with a twenty-second intro of ambient guitars, but this is only a very brief respite. The punkier elements of Pray for Villains are mostly pushed aside this time, only really making their presence felt in "You Make Me Sick", but Beast is no worse for this, instead veering harder toward the more extreme end of the metal spectrum than ever. Parts of "Black Soul Choir" are almost in the realms of melodic black metal. Only "Lend Myself to the Night" offers some relief, but only insofar as it's slower and the most melodic track, as if the band decided to ease off the pedal as the album rumbled to an end.

Beast is the true pinnacle of DevilDriver's -- and Fafara's -- career to this point. It is an absolute monster of an album that has already set the bar way high for the year and a new standard for all groove metal albums to come.


1. Dead to Rights
2. Bring the Fight (to the Floor)
3. Hardened
4. Shitlist
5. Coldblooded
6. You Make Me Sick
7. Talons Out (Teeth Sharpened)
8. Blur
9. The Blame Game
10. Black Soul Choir
11. Crowns of Creation
12. Lend Myself to the Night

Rating: 95%

BANE OF ISILDUR: Black Wings

Self produced
Released: December 2010

With two well received releases already and several big show appearances in recent times, Black Wings is the culmination of several years of solid work from Sydney's Bane of Isildur. Fans of the band are unlikely to be disappointed as this holds up to the reputation for epic melodic death metal they've built through their previous EPs.


The most obvious touchstone for Bane of Isildur is Amon Amarth, from their basic style right down to their choice of subject matter and band name. So on Black Wings, Bane of Isildur adopt a somewhat jubilant death metal with folk-derived melodies and with none of the chugg-chugging of the Gothenburg set nor the slab-like riffs of the Florida bands. To this they add a particularly grim element like Immortal, especially with the vocals which tend toward an icy shriek. It's all well put together and the melodies add that epic touch that evokes wide vistas of battlefields where men fight hand-to-hand, possibly in the snow, or on an isthmus in the marshlands. This is certainly at its most effective on the album's longer tracks, "The War of Gods and Men" and "Of Crimson and Cold Steel".

What the album lacks is its own real identity. Amon Amarth and particularly Unleashed have been doing this for a long time and while Bane of Isildur is an admirable local alternative, they don't really bring anything of themselves to the table. Here and there too, some of the songs are padded out by sections of repetitive riffing that just seem bolted on to make them longer the same way (but less drastically so) that Dark Order does on Cold War of the Condor. It's true that the epic nature of the songs makes it hard not to feel a kind of rousing triumph, though. I also felt that the six-and-a-half-minute "Outro" was overdoing things a bit, and the less said about the atrocious AC/DC cover, the better.

That might sound like a big pile of negatives, but the fact is Bane of Isildur is a good band with a good sound and Black Wings really isn't a bad album. But they do need to tighten the songwriting a bit and develop a real character of their own if they want to progress, which I hope they do.

1. Chosen Path
2. Last Alliance
3. The War of Gods and Men
4. 1066
5. Furious Hunt
6. Born to Scorch the Earth
7. Cold
8. Of Crimson and Cold Steel
9. A Red Dawn
10. Outro
11. Hell's Bells

NEKROFEIST: Nekrofeist

Produced by Ashley Manning
Released: 2010

Nekröfeist is a four-piece band from Wollongong and right from the outset of this self-titled debut they make no apologies for what they are. Within a few seconds, opening track "Dominiputris" has staked their claim in aggressive groove metal territory and it's one they cling to grimly for the next half an hour, but without really making a statement in originality. Despite this, the four songs here (six tracks total including the interchangeable "radio edits" of earlier songs) establish a decent foothold for Nekröfeist to build on.


The cover art makes them look like they fell out of a timewarp from the mid-90s and musically they are like an updated version of that period. It's good solid thrash/groove with modern and excellent production but overall there isn't really enough in the material that makes it jump out and be recognised. The playing is hard to fault but the songs lack sufficient hooks. Dave Tinelt's vocals are something of a weak point: the gruff howl he does seems a bit undeveloped and the more traditional voice he uses could be stronger. Still, they've done plenty right getting people like Ash from Tourettes to produce and Lachlan Mitchell to mix and while there is definitely room for improvement, overall it isn't a bad way for Nekröfeist to introduce themselves to fans of groove-laden metal.

1. Dominiputris
2. Choke
3. Destroyed
4. Government Ruins
5. Dominiputris (radio edit)
6. Government Ruins (radio edit)
 
Rating: 68%

HELLOWEEN: 7 Sinners

Produced by Charle Bauerfeind
Released: November 2010

The first thing that strikes you about the new Helloween album is how heavy it is. It's almost worth forgiving them for the ridiculous Unarmed if that's what it took for them to get as heavy as this. The second thing is how metal it is. Just how goddamn METAL is this album? Skip straight to the fourth track, "Raise the Noise", revel in the seriously savage riffarama going on and then listen in astonishment at the goddamn rampaging flute solo! That's how fucking METAL this album is, there's flutes where guitars should be. Helloween has always had the temerity to do whatever they please, and this time it works.


7 Sinners is a great heavy metal album. If "Are You Metal?" was written as a response to all those who wondered what the fuck Unarmed was, then the rest of the tracks are Helloween's affirmation that they are, indeed, metal. By the time "Raise the Noise" comes around, the band has decided that restraint is no longer required and they are churning out what is easily the heaviest stuff they've ever done, without compromising their incredible grasp on melody and hooks nor their knack for storytelling. What is frequently overlooked with Helloween's lyrics is how thought-provoking they often are and many of the songs follow the lyrical theme suggested by the album title: avarice and lust. "If A Mountain Could Talk" and "You Stupid Mankind" make telling and topical points about humanity's rapacious wastefulness and "The Sage, the Fool, the Sinner" is a murky little tale about murder and greed. They haven't forgotten their quirky side (the aforementioned flute solo) or their past (the shadow of "Perfect Gentleman" in the intro to "Who is Mr Madman?") either, nor the classic power metal they're best known for ("Long Live the King") and the final track hints at a darkness in tone and style that's rare for them. Andi Deris shines, but here it's hard to find to someone who doesn't. The drums are massive, the riffs and solos are huge and the song-writing and hooks are as strong as you'd expect from a band who are masters of the game.

As someone who has always been less than a massive fan of Helloween, 7 Sinners was damn impressive and by the end of it I even found myself going back to re-acquaint myself with their earlier stuff. A sterling effort.

1. Where the Sinners Go
2. Are You Metal?
3. Who is Mr Madman?
4. Raise the Noise
5. World of Fantasy
6. Long Live the King
7. The Smile of the Sun
8. You Stupid Mankind
9. If a Mountain Could Talk
10. The Sage, the Fool, the Sinner
11. My Sacrifice
12. Not Yet Today
13. Far in the Future

Rating: 92%

SHELLFIN: Second Hand Family

Produced by Shellfin
Released: 2010

A casual listen to Shellfin's debut could give you the impression that Second Hand Family is just one long track. Because essentially that's just what it is: a loose, semi-structured jam that even sounds like it was recorded in one take, with lyrics and vocals an afterthought to the enormously grooving riffs.

Like Kyuss, the band they originally formed to salute, Shellfin is a jam band that allows the music to dictate the path they take and how long it takes to get there. As the album progresses it becomes a series of jams-within-jams as the various members break into extended improvs that turn around on a timely fill from drummer Geeks back to the main riff or go in another direction altogether. The lyrics have a similar train-of-thought quality about them and the vocals have that deliciously slightly off-key aspect that only works for stoner bands. Like they say in their promo material, this is not about smoking weed but being immersed and entranced by heavy grooves, and the deeper you go, the more immersed and entranced you become. Some albums this long begin to feel like an ordeal just over halfway through, but Second Hand Family never loses its grip for the entire trip. Then fifteen minutes after the end of "Intervening Time" the hidden track "Of Bowels and Breath" rises from the silence on an immense, sinister riff so sludge-ridden it could have come from the bottom of the sea.

This infectiously likeable groove is available only through shellfin.bandcamp.com, for the very special price of whatever you feel like paying! And this deserves far more than small change. Shellfin don't really do anything that Kyuss hasn't done already, but these guys are our own, doing it with integrity, so they deserve support.

1. The Extent of It
2. Cruzzin
3. In the Head
4. Short Spew
5. Hedgehog
6. Fleishgeist
7. What's That Smell?
8. The Intervening Time

Rating: 90%

DEATH ANGEL: Relentless Retribution

Produced by Jason Suecof
Released: August 2010

It's been a couple of years since Death Angel graced us with a new album, but considering the upheaval and turmoil that has surrounded the group in the last decade, we should be thankful they've given us an album at all. And we should indeed be thankful, because Relentless Retribution is another sterling effort from the most over-looked of the trash pioneers.

This doesn't hold up to the likes of Exodus and Overkill's 2010 efforts, being somewhat uneven overall. It suffers a little through the middle and due to some strange track-listing choices, but nevertheless it helps to remind us what a great band Death Angel is with their idiosyncratic take on metal. The thrashing starts immediately and ferociously as Mark Osegueda exhorts us to join him or die in "Relentless Revolution". He hasn't neglected the cerebral side of his songwriting with a mixture of empowering and topical lyrics across the set. Unfortunately the album is let down by a few unremarkable songs like "Truce" and "River of Rapture" and the near-Triviumising they suffer in "Claws so Deep". That track ends with an extended coda from guests Rodrigo y Gabriela and as cool as that is, I couldn't help but feel that it actually interrupted the flow of the album just as it was getting going and may well have been much better as a segue into the oddly Black Label Society-like ballad "Volcanic" later on. Still, this is Death Angel so it's going to have real standouts, and in that area "Opponents at Sides" with its combination of meaty thrash and healthy groove and "Into the Arms of Righteous Anger" certainly fit the bill. The sinister "Absence of Light" is also a clear highlight, making Relentless Retribution a bit of a mixed bag and Jason Suecof's production gives the band's music a modern sound with a commercial edge that will no doubt be a sore point with some fans.

This is a good album from Death Angel without being a great one, and we know they're capable of those. Perhaps if Osegueda and Cavestany can keep the same crew together into the future we'll see a real return to form.

1. Relentless Revolution
2. Claws in So Deep
3. Truce
4. Into the Arms of Righteous Anger
5. River of Rapture
6. Absence of Light
7. This Hate
8. Death of the Meek
9. Opponents at Sides
10. I Chose the Sky
11. Volcanic
12. Where They Lay

Rating: 72%

LORD: Return of the Tyrant

Produced by Lord Tim
Released: October 2010

If there's one band from this country that does epic well, it's LORD. So when they decide to record a sequel to the 2005 Dungeon track "Tarranno del Mar", a long-standing live favourite, they don't just do an EP, they do an enormous EP that's even longer than their last two albums! To be fair, the original intention was to split this into two, but time and budget constraints forbade it, so "Return of the Tyrant" clocks in at a whopping 65 minutes, which ain't bad for a CD with only three new songs on it.


The first of these is the title track, an immense 10-minute saga into which LORD cram almost every trick they've ever pulled and then some: crunchy guitars, catchy riffs, soaring vocals, big melodies, huge solos, cheesy voice acting and finally an epic dose of orchestration that makes this perhaps the biggest sounding song this band has ever recorded. And that's saying a lot. If ever there was one song that could encapsulate a band, "Return of the Tyrant" is the one that represents LORD, and there's another two versions -- a radio edit and an orchestral one -- included just in case one isn't enough. The other pair of newies are covers. Both are relatively faithful to the originals and both show the band taking something of a departure from their usual style. "Of Sins and Shadows" is a Symphony X song and features extended keyboard soloing for the first time on a LORD recording. For such a guitar-oriented band, this is a refreshing change and works so well here, the question has to asked: will there be more in future? Next, they slip into melodic AOR mode for a run through the 80s classic "(I Just) Died in Your Arms Tonight" with vocals handled by bassist Andy Dowling. As always, the covers are done with aplomb and deep respect for the originals and show LORD's versatility.

If those songs are a departure, the rest of the tracks are a complete digression - unplugged versions of tracks from the past two LORD albums as well as of the Dungeon songs "Against the Wind" and "Paradise". For a band that has pretty much stayed completely away from acoustics in the past, you have to question whether they are capable of pulling this off. Metal songs don't always translate well to the unplugged format, and to a degree that's the case here too. "100 Reasons" and "Paradise" misfire, but the others come across well: "Rain" has some great guitar play-off that actually reminded me a little bit of Tommy Emmanuel's Up From Down Under, and "New Horizons" is probably better done this way than in its original form. Considering how heavy it is normally, "Eternal Storm" somehow works too.

Overall this is a pretty valid experiment that really shows the depth of talent LORD has and the risks they are willing to take in the name of their music.

1. Return of the Tyrant
2. Of Sins and Shadows
3. (I Just) Died in Your Arms Tonight
4. Against the Wind
5. Rain
6. 100 Reasons
7. Paradise
8. Eternal Storm
9. New Horizons
10. Return of the Tyrant (orchestral mix)
11. Return of the Tyrant (edit)

Rating: 75%