Rage - Speak Of The Dead
Nuclear Blast - NB 1483-2 - 2006
By Philip Whitehouse
I'm only one year older than Rage. These German heavy metal stalwarts were playing together when I was still shitting yellow in my diddies. I know for a fact that I've had some pretty stupid ideas over the twenty-two years of my existence, so I can understand that Rage probably thought releasing an album where the entire first half - eight tracks - was an overblown concept suite complete with symphonic orchestration, and the second half was just a regular Rage album, was actually a really good idea. The thing is, I didn't ask anyone to pay for the privilege of watching me dance to Electric Six's 'Gay Bar' while dressed in a bright yellow reflective workman's jacket and hard hat. Maybe I should have, but I didn't. But Rage are expecting you to pay for this.
To be honest, parts of the opening 'Suite Lingua Mortis' aren't too bad at all. The three tracks in the suite that contain vocals are, by far, the most satisfying - packed with meaty, teutonic riffage, forceful vocals, and a nice interplay between Rage's chugging, old-school heavy metal and the orchestral elements. 'No Regrets' features some particularly tasty industrial rhythms and innovative riffage in its intro. It's the instrumentals (all five of them) that grate - all fluttery strings, overblown sturm und drang, mock-cinematic buildups, that come clanging clumsily back into another actual song.
Then, after the suite finishes, it's business as usual for Rage - as though the whole fucking thing never happened. Like, what? I remember reading a passage in a book once that described the confusion felt by a man found caught in an act of infedility with a married woman by a husband who simply takes off his jacket, makes a passing remark about the weather, then walks out of the room. That's what reaching track nine of this album feels like. Anyway, to Rage's credit, the remaining tracks are typically consistent - well-produced, with a heavy guitar tone, thrashy yet traditional metal riffage, and a distinctively German determined stomp to the tempos. 'Be With Me Or Be Gone' is a great anthemic heavy metal piece, while 'Kill Your Gods' is a raging monster of a track. But seriously, what the hell's up with the first half? This Rage-ingly (haheho) schizophrenic feel completely unbalances the album, and collapses it under the weight of its self-indulgence.
5.5/10 (UM's Review Rating Scale)
Rage's Official Website
Nuclear Blast's Official Website
Nuclear Blast - NB 1483-2 - 2006
By Philip Whitehouse
I'm only one year older than Rage. These German heavy metal stalwarts were playing together when I was still shitting yellow in my diddies. I know for a fact that I've had some pretty stupid ideas over the twenty-two years of my existence, so I can understand that Rage probably thought releasing an album where the entire first half - eight tracks - was an overblown concept suite complete with symphonic orchestration, and the second half was just a regular Rage album, was actually a really good idea. The thing is, I didn't ask anyone to pay for the privilege of watching me dance to Electric Six's 'Gay Bar' while dressed in a bright yellow reflective workman's jacket and hard hat. Maybe I should have, but I didn't. But Rage are expecting you to pay for this.
To be honest, parts of the opening 'Suite Lingua Mortis' aren't too bad at all. The three tracks in the suite that contain vocals are, by far, the most satisfying - packed with meaty, teutonic riffage, forceful vocals, and a nice interplay between Rage's chugging, old-school heavy metal and the orchestral elements. 'No Regrets' features some particularly tasty industrial rhythms and innovative riffage in its intro. It's the instrumentals (all five of them) that grate - all fluttery strings, overblown sturm und drang, mock-cinematic buildups, that come clanging clumsily back into another actual song.
Then, after the suite finishes, it's business as usual for Rage - as though the whole fucking thing never happened. Like, what? I remember reading a passage in a book once that described the confusion felt by a man found caught in an act of infedility with a married woman by a husband who simply takes off his jacket, makes a passing remark about the weather, then walks out of the room. That's what reaching track nine of this album feels like. Anyway, to Rage's credit, the remaining tracks are typically consistent - well-produced, with a heavy guitar tone, thrashy yet traditional metal riffage, and a distinctively German determined stomp to the tempos. 'Be With Me Or Be Gone' is a great anthemic heavy metal piece, while 'Kill Your Gods' is a raging monster of a track. But seriously, what the hell's up with the first half? This Rage-ingly (haheho) schizophrenic feel completely unbalances the album, and collapses it under the weight of its self-indulgence.
5.5/10 (UM's Review Rating Scale)
Rage's Official Website
Nuclear Blast's Official Website
