[Metal] Stratovarius, Megadeth and HIM.
Last rounds albums have been listened to extensively and it's time to give our thoughts in yet another installment on the "Skald learns Metal"-series for the blog.
This is the first round the guys got to choose an album each and my hunch is that both picked something they either hadn't heard in a while or planily wanted me to check out. Myself, I went with something from the far end of that sentiment and picked an album I kinda knew would be picked extremely late in the series otherwise. I will probably do the same going forward, at least as long as the others just choose ”interesting” stuff.
To save you a scroll to the end, the picks for the next round are:
Laangeman: Rammstein – Sehnsucht (1997) (Industrial)
Weasel: Entombed – Left Hand Path (1990) (Death)
Skald: Periphery – Periphery (2010) (Djent)
First up was Laangeman's pick; Stratovarius – Visions (1997)
"A cornerstone of the Finnish Power Metal-scene and the album defined the genre's blend of neoclassical speed, soaring vocals, and melancholic melody."
Weasel: A very occasional dabble for me, I was not actually sure if I had ever heard this album before. Musically there is a lot to love here, provided you are on board with euro-power metal (and if you are not, you should collect your ticket to Poseur Festival 2026 from powermetalistruemetal.com).
In a lot of ways the album is a good sign post of what euro-power albums tend to be about: Some sturdy riffing to open songs that pretty quickly give way to soaring vocals, beer-friendly refrains and solos. Also more gallop riffs than you will know what to do with. I hope you like gallop riffs.
I like this album a lot. If there is a downside to Visions, it is that I wish there was just a little bit more heaviness here and there to offset the soaring swords of liiiiiiiiiiiight or whatever.
Rating: 4 out of 5 silver swords gleaming in the moonlight.
Skald: Time for some draconic kiteshields, machine-gun kickdrums, synths straight outta Minas Tirith's banquethall and high-pitched clean vocals! Oh, I forgot the wizardlike guitar-shredding. Stratovarius is one of wifey dearest's favourite bands in the genre. I think. We don't listen to Power Metal in the house to be completely fair, perhaps because the time spent together listening to music tends to gravitate towards classical, punk or at times "best of" from truly impactful bands that we both like. Last time, as far as I can recall, we listened to anything remotely Power Metal was during a 3 hr car-ride to Stockholm 2 years ago, while we fired up Ye Olde Top Twenty from Manowar's extensive discography.
Visions is not a particularly bad album in the genre for me, but I quickly become uninterested to the point of zoning out as it sounds like all other bands playing this style of Power Metal. One of the issues I have is recognising where the actual BPM of the songs is, which means that despite the drums being speed-adjacent, the vocal melodies and riffs are at half that tempo.
'Before the Winter' could have been Europe somewhere after that Cherokee-album. 'Forever Free' must be on that Gamma Ray album I heard once?
When 'Holy Light' started, I had already checked out completely the first time I listened through Visions. I ended up listening to the last half of the album separately a couple of times extra just to get the nuances of the songs right.
At times I can hear Timo Kotipelto's Finnish accent pop through, which kinda is a good thing as it sets him apart from the others who sing in the same style.
Funny coincidence; The bass-player, Jari Kainulainen, nowadays plays in a Swedish Power Metal band I kinda like and have seen live a couple of times (first time together with Laangeman come to think of it), Shadowquest. A low, perhaps undeserving score, but I need to rate based on if I like the album. Not on production, style, musicianship, technical ability or something else that could cushion the blow. 2/10.
Laangeman: Visions is, in my opinion, an excellent power metal album. I have it in my collection and is probably the second most played of my Stratovarius albums, after Destiny. Best track: 'Forever free/Legions' (yes, both). Worst track: If I have to choose it will have to be 'Holy Light'.
Weasel's pick: Megadeth – Rust in Peace (1990)
”Peak Technical Thrash Metal; Dave Mustaine's masterpiece that hit the upper limits of speed, precision, and complex songwriting with iconic tracks for Thrash with fan favourites like Holy Wars and Hangar 18."
Weasel: Megadeth is a complicated band. A few years ago I invented the ’Megadeth Rule’.
When the number of bad albums exceed the number of good albums, its no longer a good band with a few bad albums, it’s a bad band with a few good albums.
I will leave the reader to determine where and if the ’Megadeth rule’ kicks in, but suffice to say Rust in Peace is a very good album and a stone cold thrash metal classic.
You get it all: Fierce riffing, lyrics like “Take no prisoners, cremate them” that sounds gnarly to a 15 year old (and kind of still does, if I am honest) and the songs fit Mustaine’s sneering vocals perfectly.
Though upon listening to it again for this blog post, I was reminded that the album definitely front-loads the real serious thrash bangers to get you hooked. I’m not sitting here bagging on 'Tornado of Souls' but be honest: When you just put on one song from this album how often is it from the back half?
Rating: 4 out of 5 UN brain wave measuring devices. Mustaine tried to warn us.
Skald: Megadeth is one of those bands I listened to extensively in the nineties as part of the non-punk rotation. I remember that guy who introduced them to me, a friend of a friend that I just met a few times. He was an angry ginger-kid that went the "I'm gonna tren-hard-eet-klen and bully my bullies"-route, which I wholeheartedly can get behind any day of the week. Not sure if he liked Megadeth because he kinda looked like a beefy Mustaine, but it kinda stuck as a memory due to the resemblance.
In either case, I think the last things I heard with Megadeth was during the Youthanasia-era, but I pretty much always include them in a long-format mixtape, especially if it leans towards being listening-friendly for normies (such as mixes for the gym, wargaming club etc).
Rust… is not my fav album by far, even though there are a couple of bangers on it. My first couple of listens felt a bit meh, but then I got reminded by someone in a chat that I really wanna spin the original mix instead of the remasters floating around on YouTube. So I did and holy moley what a different experience.
Even though 'Holy Wars' and 'Hangar 18' are the obvious stars of the show, I tend to lean towards a couple of other songs nowadays. 'Poison was the Cure's' suggestive bass-riff that turns into speedy rock 'n' roll riffage and the tempo shifts in 'Tornado of Souls' are just :chef's kiss:. All in all Rust in Peace is a hell of a solid album and rates high even though my personal fav album is Countdown to Extinction. Easy 7/10.
Laangeman: Rust in Peace is one of my all time favorites. I had period when thrash metal completely dominated my listening for about two years during -93/-94. Nuclear Assault, Overkill, Metallica, Sacred Reich, but above all else Megadeth, were on repeat. Rust in Peace and Countdown to Extinction where played daily. To this day, Rust in Peace gets a spin at least once a year. Thanks for the reminder!
Best tracks: 'Hangar 18' and 'Rust in Peace - Polaris'
Worst track: None
Finally, my pick: HIM - Love Metal (2003)
”The album that fused goth melancholy with pop sensibilities and added a sprinkling of metal to achieve massive mainstream success, partly fuelled by that one TV show with the skaters. Goth Metal, Emo Metal or Love Metal, same same, same.”
Skald: There seems to be a bit of a Finnish theme going on this week with 2 bands from the most nice-to-meet-you-but-leave-me-alone-please Nordic country. Picking Love Metal was a bit of a conscious choice on my part.
Like I alluded to earlier, it would not have been picked by me on the basis of being something I was keen on hearing. I have been somewhat aware of HIM and heard a song or two in the past, and that kinda led me to feel a bit lukewarm about adding them to the master list, not to mention going into this review.
First off; It was a pretty decent album all in all!
The first track, 'Buried Alive by Love', starts with a suggestive two-chord riff that makes me a bit giddy, waiting for a raspy old-schooley voice to explode into the mic. Then the goth-influences hit hard instead, which is kinda pleasant too. A few minutes in..
Yeah, it's still kinda pleasant and an easy listen, a feeling that persists through the album.
It feels "youthfully energetic" if that makes sense to the reader?
Maybe it's due to me getting into my thirties when this style of action-fuelled rock became a bit more mainstream, and the target audience was much younger than that. The issue with something being a pleasant listen is obviously that it leaves zero impressions in my mind, body or soul.
I need bigger feelings to emerge for music to make an impact.
I can 100% get why they became a huge hit though. 'Buried Alive By Love' and 'The Funeral of Hearts' are easily the best songs on the album, maybe because it all blends together a bit after that.
Not a fan yet, but way better than I thought the album would be. 5/10
Laangeman: TBA
Weasel: I guess I am gonna out myself as a fake metal fan, because I am not sure I’ve ever actually listened to an entire HIM album. What you get is a mixture of mid-tempo power metal, some rather catchy and poppy vocals together with more than a little bit of Type o Negative vibes. I have a term I call “American radio metal” for bands like Godsmack or Machine Head, but I think this is probably the closest I will hear to “Euro radio metal”. I enjoyed my time with this one, but I think its a more situational listen for me. An album to blast when you go for a drive maybe? Rating: 3 out of 5 romantics pining in a Finnish forest.
/Skald