Mad Hatter's Den – Welcome To The Den

Roughly a year has passed since we reviewed their first release, the Dark Wheel EP, and today Mad Hatter's Den are back with a brand new full album Welcome To The Den. The line up has stayed intact since Dark Wheel, but the vocalist Taage Laiho's presence in the band has solidified further and he now has lyrics writing credits for all new tracks for example. Hopefully this is an indication of stronger commitment to the band; that Taage is here to stay.

Welcome To The End comprises 9 tracks excluding the intro, out of which 3 have been previously released: Shadow Lord and The Dark Wheel from the Dark Wheel EP, and Stone Cold Flame as a single. That leaves us with 6 new tracks or 32 minutes of previously unheard heavy metal from the Pirkanmaa metallers.

Musically Welcome To The Den is a pure sequel to The Dark Wheel release as the sound is still the easily recognizable 70-80s heavy metal sound. There's perhaps slightly less of galloping guitars, but in contrast keyboards play a bigger role now, and not completely in the Hammond-esque way either; in fact, there are some very beautiful, not-so-Hammond-style melodies scattered throughout the album.

Welcome To The Den and Blind Leading The Blind are your generic -for the lack of better word- trustworthy heavy metal songs: they don't particularly stand out, but that doesn't mean they're bad. Easy on ears and a good introduction to the album as whole. Shadow Lord follows fourth and still sounds just as good as always -- no news here.

The fifth and the next new track, Sinister Monologue, begins with strange progressive guitar riffs which reminds me instantly of Powerwolf's The Evil Made Me Do It. The familiarity is shrugged off pretty quickly, only to drift into another type of familiarity: Iron Maiden -- reminiscent of something like Where The Wild Wind Blows. I cannot exactly say why, but we all have our odd associations. There's a particular atmosphere on this track and it's owed in great lengths to Taage's vocal performance which is nothing short of outstanding. Definitely one of Taage's high points on the album, if not across his whole career. Sinister Monologue quickly rises to the top position of the album so far.

Journey, which follows next, is a slow and mellow ballad, something that isn't that much to my liking in all honesty. And unfortunately Journey will likely remain the track where I just press skip. Fortunately, on the other hand, Journey is the only song on the album to do that.

If you're at all into power metal you've definitely heard Legacy Of The Kings by Hammerfall. This time Mad Hatter's Den aren't here to cover anyone and their rendition of Legacy Of The Kings is an instrumental, keyboard-driven show-off from the keyboardist Petja Puumalainen, who also has composing credits for the song. I'll be straight: I like Legacy Of The Kings, and I like it because it feels very 80s and classical. It feels like a tribute to 80s games and their soundtracks. And it also sounds like Castlevania! Anytime a song manages to do all that, I'm instantly sold. I would gladly listen to more of instrumental wonders like this one.

The last new song on the album is a cunningly named track Sharks Of Power which was released as a trailer for the album a few weeks before the actual album release, so I'd heard it before. And it kicks ass, serious ass, Duke Nukem biting sharks kind of serious ass. No time for chewing bubble gum during this one. The main guitar riff etches into your brain like a music-thirsty parasite. Alongside Sinister Monologue Sharks Of Power is the best new material this album has to offer.

The Dark Wheel and Stone Cold Flame conclude the 50 minutes of heavy metal and I'm left, again, with a very positive vibe -- even more so than with the Dark Wheel EP. Mad Hatter's Den continue extremely strong on their path doing what they do best: damn good melodic heavy metal. If you're looking to buy one heavy metal album this year, make it be Welcome To The Den. I don't think you'll be disappointed. One of the best releases this year, and considering the number of high quality releases from many notable bands this year, that's a lot to say.

You can listen to some of the tracks and buy the album here.

Sharks of Power on Youtube

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Dreamtale – World Changed Forever

On Friday the 26th of April 2013, Dreamtale released their sixth album World Changed Forever under their own label Secret Door, preceded by two single releases as well.

Unlike most of Dreamtale's earlier albums, WCF is a concept album, and should also be regarded as such since this concept gives the record a whole new dimension. The album begins with a peaceful melody of the first track The Shore, which sounds almost like a lullaby. It's not an explosive way to start a power metal album, but certainly an apt "once upon a time in 2040" piece. That's right – the story of the album takes place in the future. Although the tracks tell the story from the beginning to the end, the CD booklet adds a lot of information to the mere lyrics – in fact even such essential details that without them the whole concept will not open up.

The second track, Island Of My Heart, leads the listener to genuine power metal and deeper understanding of the story. The song begins with an exciting intro and is topped off with a catchy chorus – a feature very peculiar to Dreamtale. It is followed by Tides Of War, the first single release and a song with an equally fine chorus and melodies which get stuck in your head. Both tracks are good examples of why the founder and main composer Rami Keränen should receive a lot of appreciation for his skills and creativity.

The story goes on with We Have No God, the song with ominous verses uttered in a lower tone, and The Signs Were True, which resembles a proclamation in its humble pomposity. The Heart After Dark was a bit tougher track to get a good hold of, but it turned out to be versatile, conveying a variety of emotions, as well as the lack thereof in an excellent way. Join The Rain is yet another great track which thrives from the very beginning to its strong chorus – however, such lines as "join the rain, my blackened angel" may sound slightly lame with a term that bears resemblance to a pre-teen goth's online nickname, and in this case only the additional text in the booklet justifies the use of such words.

Personally, I think ballads are a difficult form of art and too many such songs turn out unsuccessful, but Dreamtale has succeeded in that as well. The title track World Changed Forever is a very beautiful piece which also honours Erkki Seppänen's emotional vocals – moreover, it is also the only exception composed by him instead of Keränen. Dreamtime is not a ballad but a song swinging from one mood to another, growing from peacefulness to real power metal. Destiny's Chance, the last track, is a fine way to bring the story to its end, which is not exactly "and they lived happily ever after", yet its chorus has a glimmer of hope with the lead and backing vocals chanting "sing now my friends although this is the end".

As a whole, the album is again another strong proof of Dreamtale's talent and urge to create awesome power metal, such masterpieces as the aforementioned tracks as well as My Next Move, which contains an interlude slightly similar to that of Lady of A Thousand Lake's and is also a great track despite its slightly awkward ending. The tracks also contain some character dialogue of the story, performed not only by Seppänen and a guest star Heikki A. Kovalainen but also the band's keyboard genius Akseli Kaasalainen. And if one doesn't pay attention to the concept and the story, that dialogue may seem unnecessary and disconnected, yet those lines also have a lot to tell. The story is like a modern, alternative and particularly unscrupulous version of Pocahontas, even starring a cold-blooded self-seeker called John.

Not everything on the album opened up when listening to it for the first time through, but it is a solid, great Dreamtale release – lived up to the expectations one can set for the band and compared with their previous album, it is of the same high standard. Since Rami Keränen hasn't obviously run out of successful ideas for melodies yet, we can probably start looking forward to equally excellent future releases. But until that happens, World Changed Forever will certainly stand up to heavy listening.

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Orden Ogan – To The End

Orden Ogan released their fourth full-length album a few months ago, titled To The End. The version to be reviewed here is the LTD Digipak which included two bonus tracks and a DVD – the latter shall be omitted, though it comprised The Things We Believe In video, its "behind the scenes" and Wacken 2010 live show.

In spite of the positive first impression (which began with the first single releases), the album turned out to be difficult to get a good grasp of. It sounds like Orden Ogan immediately, but it had to be played through several times in order to fully get into each individual song.

The album begins with an instrumental track The Frozen Few, which has some nice and simple guitars with a growing orchestral feeling, something which sounds very peculiar to Ogan. The opening leads to the title track To The End, which is catchy enough to be placed at the beginning, to introduce those choirs which are very typical of Orden Ogan.

Most songs on the album are strong power metal pieces, with some pleasant and occasionally fast guitars and—as already stated—some pompous choirs. Such vocals have been included in every track on the album, more—like in Till The Stars Cry Out with several different repeated sections with choirs—or less, like in the first ballad The Ice Kings, in which the chorus parts are relatively peaceful, less bombastic, with a nice and slightly swinging melody. Orden Ogan's habit to use choirs to such extent may be a bit debatable – on one hand it is like a trademark, sort of a vocal way of adding "power" to "metal", yet on the other hand it may become a burden as well, making one wonder what else could have been used to produce such powerful songs. Fortunately, the choirs have been used in varying ways, like at the very end of The Ice Kings, or in Dying Paradise, where they only repeat the name of the song every now and then.

The regular edition ends with the other ballad, Take This Light, which is very beautiful and comprises piano melodies recorded at the cathedral of Wildeshausen. On the limited edition, this song is followed by the bonus tracks, an original Ogan track Masks and a cover version of The Battle of Waterloo (originally by Running Wild). These are actually some of the most interesting tracks, and personally I would certainly have included Masks in the regular edition. The cover song is a respectful gesture towards Running Wild, carried out in the familiar Ogan way.

Even though the album consists of creative and strong tracks with variable sections, it still hasn't hit the goal of being nearly perfect. On one hand the album is very solid, consistent and harmonious, and on the other hand the tracks do, in spite of their versatility, sound rather similar to each other. Yet that is their style, something that defines Orden Ogan, but it would be refreshing to get to hear something slightly different, something to prove they are not confined to the elements which all the tracks share, maybe only one exceptional song to break the habit. Ogan's song melodies are interesting in their own right, but the decorations are usually the same. Perhaps an acoustic folk version of Mystic Symphony?

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Heavy Metal Perse – Aikakirjat

The strange Finnish power and heavy metal band Heavy Metal Perse released their second full-length album Aikakirjat on November 16th. The reason why I'm dubbing the band as strange is the remarkable difference between my personal views on them: considering the prejudices I had, the first impression I got when hearing their first album for the first time was particularly positive – and positively surprised. Thus, yours truly was quite excited about the new album which saw the light of the day almost five years after the first one.

Heavy Metal Perse's songs are generally very melodic, which is certainly a good thing. If that is what the listener is looking forward to, the first nine seconds of the first track, Paha Paavo, might make one's heart skip a few beats. What is this, thrash metal? Have no fear, after the initial shock it turns out to be the same familiar HMP. Paha Paavo is a very catchy song, with particularly hilarious lyrics, and its theme bears some resemblance to their older song Pahaksi Parkittu Lalli. It's an energetic way to open an album, a good choice despite the first seconds.

Although Heavy Metal Perse stands out from its peers in many ways, one of the most remarkable feature is their lyrics. The songs on the new album have just as brilliant lyrics as their older ones do. They can barely be overly praised; it is just a pity that the non-Finnish-speaking audience cannot understand the ingenious choices of words. Most of the praise goes to the main lyricist and drummer Heikki Romppainen, who has said – contrary to my initial expectations – that his lyrical themes are not derived from role play games or fantasy books. However, they tell interesting stories, they use the Finnish language in intriguing ways and every now and then they are so good they just make you laugh. But in spite of being occasionally very funny, they are not cheesy or ridiculous. Each track on the new album has strong and refined lyrics and it would be difficult to raise one above the others based on these merits.

And the melodies, well, they are also strong and enjoyable. Honest and melodic heavy metal. Vainolaista vastaan is an interesting track with its few a cappella lines, making it sound like a drinking song in a good way. Hornan koje is attractive because of its strategically placed pauses and a sharp ending to its choruses. And Matias Palm's boyish yet still slightly rough voice fits HMP's songs in such an excellent way and is a pleasure to listen to.

The last three tracks of the album are Viimeisen sillan taistelu, Vanhus ja meri and Vesikeuhko. The very last one is a cover version of Jethro Tull's song Aqualung, and it's quite a weird track on a Heavy Metal Perse album. Well, perhaps it is in the right place being the last track as it seems a bit separate from the rest of the material. In a way it sounds quite true to the original song, in a way it does sound a bit like HMP... But perhaps not enough. Personally, I'm picky – of course the translation is something already, but I find cover songs more interesting if they differ a lot from the original. And even though the song is not actually bad, it is something yours truly doesn't feel like listening when in need of some heavy metal. And when it comes to the last two original HMP tracks, I think they could have been swapped over: even though Vanhus ja meri is a nice, peaceful track, it does make the album fade towards its end, especially since followed by something as dragging as Vesikeuhko. Viimeisen sillan taistelu, on the other hand, is yet another catchy track, a genuine HMP song, and it would have been a good way to end the album with a bang rather than quietly sneaking away. Besides, the name of the song translates to "the battle of the last bridge".

Despite the slightly fading ending, Aikakirjat is a very good and strong album – at least as good as the previous one. One could expect bands to always exceed the expectations set by the previous release, though it does not happen too often. Heavy Metal Perse has at least lived up to those expectations, not leaving me disappointed. Keep up the good work, guys!

You can listen to the album on Spotify. See also HMP's Myspace and their website www.heavymetalperse.com

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