REVIEWS ARCHIVE - W |
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WAITE, JOHN
"Downtown - Journey Of A Heart" (Frontiers - provided by Zink) - 3½ out of 5 points - |
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Sometimes you find yourself in the mood for some simple background music, that will make you relax all those tense muscles and a sore mind after a hard day at work … with "Downtown" ex-The Baby's/Bad English vocalist John Waite has accomplished just that. This is a new-recorded compilation of his best songs, including solo songs such as "Missing You" or "The Hard Way", The Baby's tunes like "Isn't It Time" and Bad English songs as "When I See You Smile". All re-recorded in a laid-back version, which totally suits these awesome melodic rock / AOR tunes. "Downtown" is a perfect album for one of those days where you just want to sit back and take it slow.
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Claus
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WALSH, STEVE
"Shadowman" (Frontiers Records - provided by Atenzia) - 1½ out of 5 points - |
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It seems like it should be a total waste of time to even mention it, but for those who don't know it, Steve Walsh is the singer of pomp/prog-rock band Kansas - one of my personal favorite bands ever in that style, and I'm sure there are million of people all over the world who feels that way. So, Mr. Walsh has now released his 3rd (?) solo album. His last solo effort "Glossalia" didn't do much for me, so I was quite hesitant to listen to "Shadowman". Okay, "Shadowman" is a bit more easy-on-the-ear than "Glossalia" (not so prog-for-being-prog's sake), and Steve's voice sounds really good, but I just don't find the songs as exciting as they should be. In my opinion Steve needs the team of Kerry Livgren, Phil Ehart and Richard Williams behind him, and even though ex-Kansas violinist David Ragsdale guests on one of the songs here, and Symphony X-mastermind Michael Romeo has written and performed the orchestration of 3 of the songs on "Shadowman" it doesn't save the album from being quite boring and unnecessary.
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Claus
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WALTARI
"Blood Sample" (Dockyard1 - provided by VME) - 4 out of 5 points - |
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Mix 80'ies thrash, grind-core, power metal, keyboard dominated melodic hard rock, rap (yes, you read it right…RAP!!!) and you've got Waltari. This Finnish "weird boy of the class" is back, with their new and 11th album. It's impossible to describe the music, as so many genres are blended into each other. Nevertheless, it really sounds good and refreshing from all those very labelled bands that write 10 songs over the same theme and Waltari hereby show that it IS possible to follow your own musical mind, and write ear-catchy and listenable music. There are double bass drums in frenzy madness, slow beats, thrash parts a la old bay-area thrash, and guitars that just fit in addition to the drums. Everything is held together by aggressive bass and strange keyboards. I don't know if the band has several singers, but it surely sounds that way, and they back each other up perfectly…not the biggest singer(s) in world history but worth spending 79 minutes on because of the many voices. The album is divided into part 1 and 2, with part 1 including both Helsinki, New York and Rome in the track titles….I guess that part is about all the different places the guys in the band have lived or travelled through? Dunno what the second part is all about as I don't have the lyrics for it. Waltari is a great band with a big plan, but sometimes this big plan is also the wall that stands in front of them. It's obvious that a mixture of so many genres needs to be held together by one single element (like Mike Patton in Faith No More), and Waltari lack that element, even if all the different songs are great individually. So, the day the band offers us an album where everything is bound together by that X-factor they miss now, they'll go to the roof in my book. Anyway, Waltari is my bid for this year's strangest, but in no way the least interesting, album.
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Lars
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WARRANT
"Born Again" (MTM Music - provided by Zink) - 1½ out of 5 points - |
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Blaaah … this is nowhere as good a comeback as it should have been. I liked the cheesy debut "Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich", loved the MTV-hit album "Cherry Pie" and found the more metal-edged "Dog Eat Dog" to be quite fine. But their 2 other albums ("Belly To Belly" and "Ultraphobic") bored the shit out of me. Okay, so I should probably feel ashamed about even liking 3 of the Warrant discs, but so be it. Now the band are back after an almost 10 year break, but without original singer Jani Lane. Newcomer Jaime St.James (known from Black 'N Blue and Keel) doesn't really bring anything to the band, and his voice sounds like it got ruined back in the 80's by too much booze and drugs. As for the rest of the band … well, they do play their instruments nice enough, but they just don't write any memorable songs, and all in all this album is a total let-down for anyone who had hoped for something worthwhile coming from a Warrant re-union.
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Claus
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W.A.S.P. "The Neon God: Part 1 - The Rise" (Sanctuary Records - provided by Target Distribution)) - 3 out of 5 points - |
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We've been here before, haven't we? Didn't Blackie Lawless and W.A.S.P. write and release this same disc 12 years ago, just with the title of "The Crimson Idol"? I think so … at least to me this sounds like exactly the same disc, with just few exceptions. The most important exception would of course have to be the "surprise" in getting such a strong release. I remember how "TCI" hit me like a ton of bricks back in '92, and how many times I listened to it, over and over again. "The Neon God" will most likely not be getting constant spins on my stereo. You know, that feeling of deja vu, where one song reminds you so much of another song that you simply love? Well, that's what I get with each song here; Blackie's typically harsh metal vocals, the drumming of Frankie Banali, the atmosphere, how the soft parts blends well together with the classic metal/hard rock riffs … all that I adored with "TCI" back then. But today it's just not good enough - no one needs a rehash of an old classic, especially not when you know that it's done in order to re-gain some of the lost fans of past days of glory. Sorry Blackie - the songs are good, very good indeed, but we've been here before, and today it's just not what I'm looking for.
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Claus
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WEST, ANDY "Rama 1" (Magna Carta - provided by MNW) - 2 out of 5 points - |
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Fusion prog-rock by Andy West! He says: "My music just reflects what's going on in my life…" and I say: "Damn he must live a turbulent and crazy life". Nevertheless, he managed to assemble some prominent musicians on "Rama 1" such as former FRANK ZAPPA guitarist, Mike Keneally, DREAM THEATER drummer, Mike Portnoy and Rod Morgenstein from Andy West's old band DIXIE DREGS, also on drums, just to mention but a few. But still, this is some very strange shit. You have to be more or less 110% focused if to get anything out of this album. There is no red line, and some really weird notes and rhythms characterize the whole album, and, frankly, I think the music lacks coherence. Still, the musicians on "Rama 1" are very skilled - no question there - but if you are a little confused soul, and have a tendency to freak out easily, don't listen to this album, or it will tip you over the edge.
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Martin J
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WEST, JOHN
"Long Time… No Sing" (Frontiers Records - provided by Zink Music) - 1½ out of 5 points - |
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I *really* dig the voice of John West, but when I popped this album in my CD-player and listened through the first half, I began to wonder what the hell this was. I can't believe this is the same John West who rocked my world with Royal Hunt's masterpiece "Fear" and the same guy who sung his lungs out in Artension, but apparently it is. I really don't know what to call this album, but I guess it is simple hard rock with lousy song writing. Surely West still is an awesome singer, but everything else on "Long Time … No Sing" is so boring, that I wish I've never set ears to this one. There are some stupid funky "wah" effects to the vocals, and the melodies are simply foolish for the most part. I need to end this review… fast, because I am so disappointed in Mr. John West and this entire project. Bottom line is that "Long Time… No Sing" must be for die hard fans only.
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Mads
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WET ANIMAL
“Wet Animal” (Escapi Music – provided by Target) - ½ out of 5 points - |
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Worst album of the year so far! The bio states that there are 18 years of experience behind the album. Funny that nobody used those 18 years to learn how to play their instruments tightly! If you want your hard rock played slightly out of tune at various places and extremely out of beat (how hard can it be to follow a click track??), you found the right band. The album sounds as if it has been recorded inside a giant empty beer can and the lead singer sounds like Dave Mustaine, trying to copy Liam Gallagher from Oasis – also when it comes to being almost in tune. The songs are boring and all remind of each other. A strange mix of hard rock, blues, funk and heavy metal. I wouldn’t recommend this album even if I had a threat of glowing needles to be jacked into my penis hanging over my head. Damn it, I can’t even listen to the whole album, without being so annoyed that I want to throw the whole stereo out the window.
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Lars
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WHERE ANGELS FALL
"Illuminate" (Edgerunner Music - provided by VME) - 3 out of 5 points - |
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I have just awoken after falling asleep for the 3rd time to this album. Actually, it's not that bad, musically. Ambient metal with emphasis on atmosphere. The sleep-trigger here is the lead singer Eirin Bendigtsen. She's not a bad singer, but her singing is more like a wailing that never ends. You won't be able to understand one single word she's singing/wailing, as the woman is concentrating much more on melody than expressing words. She definitely ought to find a middle way in this. The music is more or less interesting on various places on the album. Most interesting is the interaction between the programmed drum patterns and the very deep and heavy rhythm guitar. A band to look out for in the future, if you like those kinds of vocals.
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Lars
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WHITE LION, MIKE TRAMP'S
“Rocking The USA” (Frontiers Records – provided by Atenzia) - 1 out of 5 points – |
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If you liked the hair-metal scene back in the late eighties and early nineties, you obviously also know who White Lion were … right? Okay, so now the introduction's done; let’s get on with the basics here. The band disbanded back in 1991 after their 4th disc, and although rumours of reunion have been going on forever, it seems like it would never happen. Instead vocalist Mike Tramp ventured out on a solo campaign and released a bunch of discs on his own. Somehow he got the “brilliant” idea to put together a new band and tour as “Tramps White Lion”, playing only classic songs such as “Broken Heart”, Little Fighter”, Wait”, Lady Of The Valley”, “Lights And Thunder”, “Hungry” and “Fight To Survive”. Only problem with this is that Mike’s voice just isn’t as good as it used to be, and his backing band, just isn’t in the same class as Vito Brata, James Lomenzo and Greg D’Angelo. For some stupid reason, they even decided to record this tour of the tramps … ehhh Tramps White Lion … and that’s what we’re stuck with listening to now. There’s no denying that these tunes counts as classics in my little pink book of hair-metal, but I’d rather remember them as they were than hear them killed by this cover-band.
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Claus
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WHITESNAKE
"Live In The Still Of The Night DVD" (AFM Records - provided by Target) - 4½ out of 5 points - |
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It's incredible to witness how David Coverdale still has the voice that once made him the star he is today, to witness how David Coverdale still has the physique of much younger men, and to witness how David Coverdale still remembers how to work a crowd up to the point of exaltation. Whitesnake IS David Coverdale. There were never any doubts about that, and it has only been confirmed by the fact that this whole DVD set is centered around the personality and the singer-talent David Coverdale is. However, I feel it's very important also to mention that the entire band around him today is the best line-up he has ever had to work with. Tommy Aldridge is a machine … nothing more, nothing less … the ultimate hard rock drummer. Marco Mendoza is a ball of fun rolling around the stage, yet still playing his bass parts to perfection. Timothy Drury delivers the nice and simple backdrop with his keyboards and still finds the time to smile like a little kid having the time of his life. Reb Beach is one of the most talented guitarists out there, and it's nice to see him finally in a band that lets him shine and occassionally take center stage. But - I've saved the best for last - Doug Aldrich. This guy is the best damn guitarist in hard rock today. This guy has got it all - feeling, technicality and showman ship. Doug Aldrich is so underrated it's wonderful finally to witness him in his right element. Whitesnake nowadays is, as this live DVD from their London Hammersmith Apollo gig a year ago shows, not just a classic hard rock band for the old geezers, but also an asskicking entity of musicality and great songs, that is right up there with the very best of them.
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Claus
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WINDIR "Likferd" (Head Not Found - provided by VME) - 4 out of 5 points - |
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Besides Dimmu Borgir, Emperor and occasionally some Limbonic Art, I actually don't listen to much black metal these days. To me this genre has outlived itself, and the chances of finding something exciting aren't that big. But now comes along the new album by Norway's Windir. I do have their earlier discs in my collection, and I used to like them, but honestly - I wasn't expecting this band to come up with such a great disc as "Likferd". This is a superb blend of old-school aggression, symphonic parts and a bit of Norwegian folklore thrown in just for measure - the end result is really good, and although it's quite easy to draw parallels to Dimmu Borgir, Windir do create something of their own. This is one of the few black metal albums of the past couple of years, that I'll actually be digging out now and again. Quality!
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Claus
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WINTERSUN
"Wintersun" (Nuclear Blast - provided by VME) - 4 out of 5 points - |
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This is a very interesting band to follow throughout the years to come. I would be so bold and describe the band as another masterpiece from the high north of Scandinavia (Finland). Wintersun is the band that has taken over the position from Children Of Bodom (COB) has the high energetic, melodic Black/Death metal band since (COB) made their "Hate Crew Deathroll" I've been missing the energy which the had back in the days of "Hatebreeder". Wintersun is however a bit more Folk inspired compared to (COB) but this only uplifts the music to a higher level, as they do not over do it. The only thing missing compared to (COB) is more keyboard to give the music the final touch, but this album is without any doubt a must get for every (COB) fan.
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Benjamin
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WITCHERY
"Don't Fear The Reaper" (Century Media - provided by EMI) - 3 out of 5 points - |
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The Swedes know how to thrash! If there ever was one country born to take it upon their shoulders to continue this great music genres that died out at the beginning of the nineties everywhere else, then it's got to be Sweden. Witchery is 100% heavy thrashing metal -this is Destruction, this is Venom, this is Slayer, this is Mercyful Fate, this is Testament, this is Kreator, this is METAL! With a solid base in thrash metal, but also incorporating elements of classic metal and even some death/black parts, Witchery has now returned with their 4th full length album - and in short, this one kicks ass. They don't reinvent the wheel, nor do they try to push the boundaries of metal … but hey, they make it sound like they mean it, and that's good enough for me.
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Claus
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WITHERING SURFACE
"Force The Pace" (Scarlet Records - provided by Target Distribution) - 4 out of 5 points - |
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After the very rock'n'rollish and quite a change in style for Withering Surface, "Walking On Phantom Ice", the Danish melo-death merchants returns with a more straight-lined album in "Force The Pace". It's almost as if the title suggests that the band decided that "WOPI" was too drastic a change for their fans to accept, and that they now needed to go back a step to the more melodic and less rock-like sound from their first 2 albums, in order to get their old fan-base back. That said, I don't get the feeling of a band "forcing" themselves to come up with an album like this - it really flows naturally. From openers "Gears" and "Exit Sculpture" to the great "State Of Emergency" and last song "Urban Glasses", this album is a true ass-kicking disc in best melo-death style - sure you can draw comparisons to Dark Tranquility and In Flames, but who cares when it's done as brilliantly as this? Not me! In retrospect I'll say that the summer has been a great time for those who like Danish death metal bands take on the genre; Hatesphere, Mercenary and Withering Surface all have created wonderful albums, and I'm proud to be a Dane!
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Claus
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WIZ "Shattered-Mind-Therapy" (Arise Records - provided by Arise) - 3 out of 5 points - |
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This is Swedish melodic power metal, with a slight touch of progressiveness, and it's an album totally ruined by bad sound. Whoever hired that sound engineer, should fire his ass as well, and that faster than Klaus Meine's hair is falling off his head. All in all, Wiz is a pretty decent band, with nice melodies, a very talented singer - though a little bit insecure in his phrasing, cool choir arrangements and mostly mid-tempo songs, but it is evident that it's their debut album, and as such it suffers from the naivety, most bands always have on their first album - the bad sound, that you accept, because the producer probably knows what he's doing!! (NOT always). Another thing: Please shorten that bio of yours. I don't care who had premature ejaculation or who got drunk and puked at his student party. It's very immature and unprofessional. I should have expected more from a label like Arise.
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Lars
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WIZARD "Odin" (LMP / SPV - provided by Nordic Metal) - 2 out of 5 points - |
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Wizard has existed more then a decade their roots go back as far as 1989. Their debut album came in 1999 "Bound By Metal" which was highly praised in the German Power Metal scene and has since then released "Heart Of The Deceiver" 2001 and now "Odin". Wizard is to be described as German Power/True Metal with the typically sound of the genre within. But nevertheless for me it sounds like metal in the veins of Hammerfall even though their have existed approximately 8 years longer then the before mentioned. The music is very typical Power/True Metal and there is nothing new in it what so ever. For me this sounds like another band in LIMB's big assembly line, the standard gets lower and lower, and it sounds like one of the 1000 others that has entered the market within the recent years. This album is definitely not worth time or money.
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Benjamin
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WIZARD
"Magic Circle" (LMP / SPV - provided by Target) - 2 out of 5 points - |
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Wizard is now back with their 4th full-length album, and to no surprise the music remains the same. The production is however much better than the previous one that I have heard, but nothing to knock me down the chair. You really have to dig into this kind of German Power/Speed Metal if you find it interesting. If you're in doubt please check out the previous review of Wizard here in our webzine.
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Benjamin
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WOLF
"The Black Flame" (Century Media - provided by EMI) - 3½ out of 5 points - |
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I have been following this band since the beginning of their career and as much as I liked the 2 fist albums, I have to say that Wolf doesn't have anything new to offer on this disc. The surprise attack they used to bring to my ears has disappeared and as such, Wolf becomes a mediocre trade of Iron Maiden'esque riffing and new modern power metal. There's nothing wrong with their songs (except for "At The Graveyard", which is this year's worst song in heavy metal), and the production is also very fine. The band is tight and they do write cool riffs and perform well. I just miss that final 15% that pulls the album up to the higher league, where the band belongs, after having released 3 previous albums. It sounds as if Wolf didn't have enough time to polish and finalise the songs, but maybe it's just the style they are searching for? If so, I'm not a follower anymore. However, this is worth a try from the general power metal listener, so give it a try. You might have a different opinion than me.
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Lars
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WOLF "Evil Star" (Massacre Records - provided by VME)) - 3 out of 5 points - |
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Wolf sounds exactly as they did on their 2 previous albums. It was cool and refreshing on the first one - a little bit too much on the second one, and now it becomes a tad irritating to listen to. It's still the early Iron Maiden style (REALLY early), and I also hear a lot of the old Danish 80'ies metal band WitchCross. It actually sounds like a copy of that. I must admit that it's pretty well performed and that Wolf have some great ideas for melodies and twin guitars - even a lot of breaks and progressive playing in the middle parts of the songs, but it just sounds too much alike. With 3 albums sounding as if they have been written within the same 14 days, I'm not convinced anymore about the fantastic originality about this band.
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Lars
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WOLFCRY
"Nightbreed" (Black Lotus Records- provided by VME) - 3 out of 5 points - |
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I remember back in the 80'ies, when Carl Lewis (yep, the sprinter) released one song that was to make him an international pop star. The song sucked, Carl sucked BIG time and we never heard of the man again, unless it was from the sports news, where he once again doped himself through to a 1st spot (notice the brace on his teeth!!!….the jaw is growing as well, when doping is used….loose teeth). Anyway, Carl would have been proud of himself, had he heard Wolfcry's lead singer. The guy is so out of tune that it's a pain. He won't even get a job in the choir for hillbilly Bob and his cousins! Naaah, it's actually not through the entire disc he's out of tune, but mostly when he's under pressure or there are choir arrangements. It is quite sad coz the music of Wolfcry is pretty decent! It's a mixture of Rawhead Rexx, Iron Maiden and Motörhead. Lots of energy and pounding rhythms, with thrashy stuff here and there. There's no originality in the music, but hey - you can't have it all. "Nightbreed" is the band's 2nd effort, and if they could somehow find some virus to attach to the vocalists throat, forcing them to find a new singer (NOT the female singer they are using, as she is exactly as much out of tune as the lead singer dude), Wolfcry could very well be one of those Greek bands that made it onto the international scene with their next disc…if they don't give up before that, because of the band-ripping record company Black Lotus is!
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Lars
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WOLVERINE "Cold Light On Monday" (Elitist / Earache - provided by Target Distribution) - 3½ out of 5 points - |
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One word covers this band … adventurous! Wolverine is a band that sure takes chances, and for that we have to applaud them. Basically they belong in the progressive metal genre, but have for some reason signed with Elitist Records, which is an affiliate of well renowned death metal label Earache; I guess it's not a bad move, considering that they will stick out among the artist roster and the fact that they might get promoted towards some people who otherwise would never have given the band the time of day … but what amazes me here is, that for a band signed with Elitist Records, Wolverine have made a remarkably laid-back and almost ultra-melodic album in "Cold Light Of Monday" compared to their previous disc "The Window Purpose" … weird … but also adventurous. Besides the fact that Wolverine are now signed with Elitist, the band have undergone some other drastic changes in the past 2 years, since "The Window Purpose" - one of them being that the band for this album have chosen not to be working with cover artist Mattias Norén, who is well known for his fantastic progressive metal covers and have done both previous Wolverine album covers. Instead they have used very realistic every-day-pictures of a young woman for not just the front cover, but for the entire booklet. It looks very much like a pop-album and thus sets itself apart from the typical metal band cover … adventurous. The aforementioned booklet reflects the concept of the album; a story about a young woman called Sarah, who have been abused throughout all her life in one way or the other, and suddenly finds herself with a drug addiction and an unwanted pregnancy (and no, I'm not going to tell you more of the story ;-)). Anyway, the idea of making a concept album about such a very social-related theme and reflecting upon the world we live in today is very different from most progressive metal bands and it might be too heavy a subject to deal with for a lot of the guys reading the texts … now, if that's not adventurous, I wouldn't know what was. The production of the album actually matches the concept, and to me it's one of the highlights of the disc - seldom I've heard such a clean, almost clinically sterile, sound, very modern. It's far from the warm production of a Dream Theater album, but instead very cold and minimalist - for sure a sound that makes no compromises and undoubtedly will make the album extremely hard to get into for some people. The music of Wolverine is hard to describe for me, as they don't have many of the things that you'll immediately associate with the typical progressive bands of today, nevertheless they are prog metal … hmm, let me say it like this; imagine Pink Floyd, Pain Of Salvation and modern day Anathema united in one band, and it sounds a "bit" like "Cold Light Of Monday", yet I'm not sure if this is correct, so let's better say that Wolverine sounds like Wolverine - on good and bad. A thing I didn't like in the past with Wolverine was the death metal growls, which luckily have been reduced to a minimum this time, leaving much more space (95%) for Stefan Zell's clean voice. Okay, Stefan is definitely not my favourite singer, as he sounds forced and unnatural in his way of singing, but in the end it actually comes out quite listenable. Overall, "Cold Light Of Monday" is an album that wins with each listen, and it's as mentioned several times an album that is very adventurous in the sense it's not easy-listening stuff, and flows through the stream of commerciality in production, artwork, concept and music. Wolverine is truly something unique - but not necessarily a band that I am going to be listening to that much … for that, they are too adventurous for my taste.
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Claus
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WURDULAK "Severed Eyes of Possession" (Season Of Mist - provided by VME) - 2 out of 5 points - |
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Slayer-influenced thrash metal with death and black parts thrown in. I like the Slayer parts, they always rocks, but that is all there is to this album. The cover sucks as well!!! And the fact the there are some well-known people participating this disc is more something to be ashamed about than something to go out a brag about.
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Martin P
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