Crusible / Halford (2002)

1. Park Manor

2. Crucible

3. One Will

4. Betrayal

5. Handing Out Bullets

6. Hearts Of Darkness

7. Crystal

8. Heretic

9. Golgotha

10. Wrath Of God

11. Weaving Sorrow

12. Sun

13. Trail Of Tears

14. Rock The World Forever (Japanese Bonus Track)

15. In The Morning (Japanese Bonus Track)

"Resurrection" was the album that Rob Halford showed what fans were expecting of him. It received positive feedback from all over the world. Here is the second message of Halford. The first impression was that this album was covered by dark and heavy mood. Sound production got much heavier than the first album. It showed more influence from what he did during 90's. When I listened to the title track 2, I was bit surprised by the sound production. This album really shows his spirit of inquiry. 

Likes of dislikes can be different by each person's favor, but I would say, at least, the quality of each song is very high. Track 4 is a killer tune that all of new metal fans should hail to. Track 3 is a pure metal song. One of my favorites in this album is track 13. It is really dramatic yet heavy. It is really obvious that the band became much tighter than before. The back instruments are making good groove. The sound production is not my favorite, but I think highly of the song composition. In addition, it is not as strange as "Judas Priest" making "Jugulator" or "Demolition". However, the album is not as excited as the last one. But, Rob Halford is singing heavy metal, there is nothing to complain about.

☆☆☆☆

Thunderstone / Thunderstone (2002)

1. Let The Demons Free

2. Virus

3. World's Cry

4. Me, My Enemy

5. Will to Power

6. Weak

7. Eyes of a Stranger

8. Like Father, Like Son

9. Voice In a Dream

10. Spread My Wings

Since the beginning of 21st century, it seems like that there is a great metal movement going on in Europe. Metal music is much stronger there compared to the U.S. and Asia. There is something with me and North Europe. I guess that the melody that Finish people write really matches with my favor. Stratovarius, Sonata Arctica, Twilightning, and Nightwish, they are all Finish bands and great melody makers.

Here is another band from Finland that I listened in real time. I was a high school student at that time. One day, I went to the CD store that I used to hang out all day after school. I listened to this album. The first song was OK. That was a typical speed/power metal song. The one that caught my attention was track 2. It got me from the intro. It was not pop but very catchy.

By some critics, this band was bashed and called a copy band of Stratovarius. Well, it is obvious that they are one of the biggest inspiration to this band. Yet, I want to ask how many of their followers actually write good songs. This band writes good songs. That's what really matters for metal fans, right? I liked this album because it consists of good metal tunes. The middle instrumental part of track 7 is very moving. The musicians have enough techniques to play metal songs. I would say this is a good album with high quality.

☆☆☆☆