Baptized / Daughtry (2013)

1. Baptized

2. Waiting for Superman

3. Battleships

4. I'll Fight

5. Wild heart

6. Long Live rock & Roll

7. The World We Knew

8. High Above the Ground

9. Broken Arrows

10. Witness

11. Traitor

12. Undefeated

13. Cinderella

14. Battleships (Acoustic)

 

It seems like every time Daughtry releases a new album, he strips down hard rock sound. The last album had a lot of acoustic sound, yet this time is a complete departure from his initial hard rock sound. I don't hear electric guitar or hard beat. I guess he wants to head this direction more. I miss him playing hard rock.

However, I have to admit the this album also has some good hooks.

☆☆☆

 

Novum Initium / Masterplan (2013)

1. Per Aspera Ad Astra

2. The Game

3. Keep Your Dream Alive

4. Black Night of Magic

5. Betrayal

6. No Escape

7. Pray On My Soul

8. Earth Is Going Down

9. Return From Avalon

10. Through Your Eyes

11. Novum Initium

Unfortunately, Jorn left the band once again, and Rick Altzi (Thunderstone/At Vance) joined the band as a new singer. Even though his voice type is very different from Jorn's, he is also has powerful low to mid range. Their last album is still one of my favorite playlist. It had many dramatic songs, yet it was not so commercial friendly. The first impression of this album was that it sounded more like their first album. Songs are more varied and colorful than the last one.

After the opening SE, the album starts with a perfect opening tune, track 1. It reminded me of songs like "Sprit Never Die" and "Crimson Rider". The track 2 is the single from the album. I don't know why, but they always choose mid-tempo tunes as their singles. Overall, they put more up-tempo tunes in this album and created easiness to listen through the album. Tracks 3, 5, and 9 have the same feeling as their first album. 

Before I listened to the album, I was a bit skeptical about the matching of Rick Altzi and Masterplan, but I think he fit well in the sound. I am pretty sure he would manage singing songs from their past catalogues as well. I heard that they would actively play on tour this time and am hoping that they would come to Japan once again.

☆☆☆☆

Super Collider / Megadeth (2013)

1. Kingmaker

2. Super Collider

3. Burn!

4. Built for War

5. Off the Edge

6. Dance In the Rain

7. Beginning of Sorrow

8. The Blackest Crow

9. Forgot to Remember

10. Don't Turn Your Back...

11. Cold Sweat

12. All I Want

13. A House Divided

14. Countdown to Extinction (Live At Fox Theater, Pomona, CA./2012)

Since Dave restarted Megadeth, he has been releasing the albums that meet expectation of Megadeth fans. Especially recent years, his music style has returned to his roots, "Intellectual Thrash Metal".

So, when I heard the leading tune from this album, track 2, I was bit surprised and worried. I was wondering if the band shifted their music direction. However, soon after I listened to this album, I figured that that was needless anxiety. When I first listened to track 1, it confirmed that Megadeth is Megadeth. It was a perfect thrash metal tune for the album. Track 2 is actually a good metal tune as well. 

The listening journey of the album went through quickly. I personally think that the highlight of the album is track 6. This song is very cold and dark yet dramatic. This kind of songs shows that how Dave grew as a songwriter. At the end, this song becomes fast and loud. This dramatic progression shows his true worth as the songwriter. David Draiman of "Disturbed" collaborate with Megadeth in this song. Track 9 is a killer tunes that has good riffs and catchy melody. A cover song, track 11, fits well in this album.

This album was not as exciting as last four albums. I guess the reason why is because this album does not have as many fast tunes as those three. Overall, this album showed that the band kept faith. It has essence of all of their past catalogues in 80's and 90's and successfully mixed them. One thing, I realized was that the tuning of music was dropped by one full note. Well, I understand that Dave is getting old, it was obvious that he was having hard time hitting high notes on the last tour. He still delivers great music, and there is nothing to complain.

In late 80's, Metallica turned into more progressive, their songs became longer. On the other hand, Megadeth  (or I would say Dave) was different. Their songs are complicated and dramatic, but they put that essence in 4 to 6 minutes. I am not comparing those two bands (which many people do, and I seriously think pointless...) but just saying that it is very interesting their music style was very different in this small music genre called thrash metal. It is applicable to bands such as Anthrax, Slayer, and Exodus, and maybe that is the reason why they are all still around today. Megadeth is Megadeth. I really hope that they will tour with this album. 

☆☆☆

The Nexus / Amaranthe (2013)

1. Afterlife

2. Invincible



3. The Nexus

4. Theory Of Everything

5. Stardust

6. Burn With Me

7. Mechanical Illusion

8. Razorblade

9. Future On Hold

10. Electroheart

11. Transhuman

12. Infinity

13. Afterlife[Acoustic]

14. Leave Everything Behind(Early Version)

 

Swedish metalcore/modern metal band, Amaranthe, released their second album. Basically, their music style has not changed from their first one but is more refined and processed. I felt that electronic music influence became more obvious and could hear a lot of synthesizer and keyboard sound.

 

I mentioned before that I had impression that their songs sometimes sounded the same as other songs. My impression has not changed, yet I could see some improvement in songwriting. Each song in this album stands out better than their first album. The songs such as tracks 5, 6, 8 became good accent in this album.

 

Their unique style of having three different types of vocals really stands out in this music scene. I heard Andreas has left the band, but I hope they would keep this style and continue improving their music style.

 

☆☆☆☆



Straight Out Of Hell / Helloween (2013)

1. Nabatataea

2. World of War

3. Live Now!

4. Far From the Stars

5. Burning Sun

6. Waiting for the Thunder

7. Hold Me in Your Arms

8. Wanna Be God

9. Straight Out of Hell

10. Axxxe

11. Years

12. Make Fire Catch the Fly

13. Church Breaks Down

Most of advance reviews I saw have been very positive, so I was really looking for this album. Their last album, "7 Sinners", was very dark, heavy and sharp. The band members have been speaking that this album is typical Helloween style and carries their identity. When I heard the lead singles, tracks 5 (Japan) and 1 (worldwide), I could feel the positive energy of the band. The current line-up has been the longest in their history, and the team is tighter than ever. Especially, track 1 has good riffs and melody lines.

When I first listened to the album, all of the songs just ran through so quickly. I was really impressed by their great skills of arrangement and songwriting. Track 1 is the longest song out of all songs, yet the song progression is really clever. Overall, there were many fast songs such as tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 9, 11, 12, and 13. This album might be the fastest album they have ever made. Nevertheless, those are not just fast songs. They all have good hook in melodies, a lot of rhythm changes, and good chord progression. Tracks 3 is a Helloween style pop metal number. Track 6 is very dramatic. What surprised me the most was that the only ballad in this album, track 7, was written by Sascha. He might become another great ballad composer after Weiki and Andi. Andi said that track 8 was that Helloween version of "We Will Rock You". I don't mention too much of track 10 lol But, it is a catchy song.

Overall, this album is great. Perhaps, I would say that his album is the best one they have ever made since Andi joined the band. This album could not be made without this line-up. I really really hope that they would play many songs from this album. They have been playing only few songs from new albums in last several tour. I would not be upset even if they played the whole album. This album has such convincing quality and energy. In this long career, they released another masterpiece!! 

☆☆☆☆☆