 Write a bunch of power
metal anthems, get two gravelly voiced singers to come belt it out
over them, and you're guaranteed a hit album, right? That's evidently
what guitarist/songwriter Magnus Karlsson thought when he came out with The Battle, and
just to show you how committed he was, he managed to rope in Russell
Allen from Symphony X and Jørn Lande from...well, a lot of shit.
Following the lukewarm reception it received, Karlsson took the
logical course of action - release the same thing again with a different name, and call it a sequel.
So in The Revenge, Allen
and Lande reprise their roles as hammy prima donnas battling for the
mike. Presumably the revenge mentioned is meant for all the
detractors of the previous album. Musically, it sounds like Lionel
Richie and Diana Ross grew balls and have moved on since Endless
Love. Lyrically, it sounds like two Magic: The Gathering players
talking trash to each other. It's difficult to tell whether either of
them take any of this seriously or are just playing along to humour
Karlsson, but judging by the nature of their own work, I'd lean
towards the former.
It's not bad music,
actually. It's just so rigidly entrenched in the bombastic power
ballad format all throughout that halfway through the album, even the
most staunch fan is going to be getting restless. Karlsson does his
part, shredding like a bitch here and there, but as for song
arrangements, he's no Arjen Lucassen. Result being the considerable
talents of his singers aren't tapped all that much. You can't really
tell who's singing most times, and they generally put in sub-par
performances. Of course, with these guys, even that sounds pretty
decent, but you can't help wishing for more. A stark contrast with
something like Lucassen's Ayreon, where all the guest singers give
distinctive and convinced deliveries.
The best way to hear this
is to listen to one random track at a time. That way, you may
actually end up liking this over a reasonable period of time. Then
again, that's not much of a recommendation. My favourite part was
during the title track and after an Allen delivery, we have what
sounds like an aside from Jørn, waiting in the wings - "My
revenge! Oho! My turn to ROCK! Grawr...etc." Haha, yeah that
about sums it up.
Year of release: 2007
Label: Frontiers Records
Lineup:
What, you weren't paying
attention?
External Links:
Myspace page
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