Regeneration

Power metal is generally a genre that is somewhat misunderstood, just like the extreme variations of metal. Sure, some of it is quite flowery and to put it lightly, cheesy and with this idea in mind, plenty of people blow off power metal as a genre for nerds, devoid of meaning or passion. This is wrong. There are plenty of bands who pump just as much balls into the genre as the other genres do, and to dismiss bands such as Blind Guardian or Helstar for possibly being this stereotype, despite being quite ballsy, is a tragedy in my eyes. This is one of those bands who should not be dismissed because bands like Dragonforce and Fairyland (like, really?) are highlighted as the archetype of power metal. This is some ballsy power metal

Timelord are sometimes considered thrash and speed metal by some, but I assure you that they are power metal, with maybe some thrash influence. You could see this my noticing that the guitar work on this album is fairly adept, with the riffs also being melodic enough to keep you interested, yet aggressive/thrashy enough to keep a sense of energy flowing throughout the listener, and a mosh flowing in the live sense. Timelord don’t rely on sweep wankery or pinch harmonics either, which is somewhat rare in this day and age. The guitar tone and timbre here is very well rounded out here, giving it a good, thick feel so that it’s like a barrage of notes that you can also identify and listen to, instead of a thin sounding, inaudible wall of gain. With this, the other guitar staples of power metal used here such as dual-lead harmonies, clean pieces and shredded, melodic solos come out sounding great. I may also add that a lot of the lead work has a bit of a Spanish sound to them, sounding fairly similar to some Santana or Spanish folk music. The bass guitar presence is fairly recognizable on this record, which is probably helps add to its thick tone. The bass work is usually heard just emulating the tremolo picked riffs, but there are plenty of instances when it has its own, separate lines, which helps with the diversity of the record as well. The drumming has its fair share of glory as well, being diverse in a lot of drumming styles. You do have your typical galloping and blast beat with tremolo riffs combos in there, but there is plenty of whirlwind drumming and chaos which makes the album a hell of a lot more entertaining. Finally, the vocalist himself is very talented, having a diverse range and an obvious niche for power metal vocals. The only problem is that he suffers from the same problem that a lot of power metal vocalists in that he has Hansei/Dickinson syndrome, in that he sounds exactly like a mix of those two, thus giving making his voice somewhat unrecognizable from other power metal vocalists, which doesn’t help the fact that the band are not the most original band as it is.

Lyrically, Regeneration has an overall theme of being enslaved and fighting against your oppressors, with the first 5 tracks of the album seem to be somewhat related in their lyrical concepts, seemingly telling the story of humanity being enslaved by robots. With this, powerful lyrics akin to struggles and time and the like are present. They are catchy and memorable and one will easily find themselves humming to or singing the words to Dawn of Dissent, Great Machine or Aeons Calling. The only foreseeable problem within the lyrical department is that there tends to be fewer lyrics then one would assume a 6 minute song to have, and with that some songs end up with a bit of a repetitive chorus. But, they don’t keep the same three riffs over and over, they will change up the verse riff work and only really keep the riffs of the chorus the same, which was a smart move.

As far as power metal goes, this is hardly anything groundbreaking. As good and catchy as it is, Metal Church, Blind Guardian and Manila Road have been there and done that. It somewhat lowers their credit and probably hinders their progress in becoming popular(albeit, I live in Cape Town, South Africa and I found Regeneration in a record store whose most underground metal record was Emperor’s Prometheus). So, with that in mind, if you’re looking for something particularly new within the Power metal genre, do not look here for you will find only old crows, but if you are just looking for something to get you into the genre or you are just looking for another power metal fix, this very well may tweak your interest.

Virginia resident Matt Aub has been in quite a long line of projects, the one I knew him best in was Malintent, a thrash metal band where he performed the role of lead guitar. But now Mr. Aub here has a new band, new musicians, and a really great creation.

That creation, which features Aub on guitars and vocals (the first band in his long career as a musician where he has done both), guitarist Aaron Richert, bassist Joe Konzcal, and drummer Rick Hodes is Timelord, and Timelord is amazing. Simply put, Timelord is it's own metal sub genre. You cannot classify this band as one metal genre. Thrashy power metal is not a fair description for this band. They are a mix of thrash metal, speed metal, shred metal, power metal, and progressive metal! Not only do they mix all this together, but they do it flawlessly, and Regeneration shows this. By working with guys who are as high a caliber of musicians as himself, Matt Aub has created a band that knows what it is doing all the time, is never lost, and sounds great every single second of every track that they put out music. He even created a great name for the band, one that is powerful and dark yet really is an eye catcher and rolls off your tongue really nicely. Their full length debut Regeneration showcases this without flaws. This is music that is so incredible and powerful that it will make you wonder why your head has not exploded from the intense musicianship, amazing songwriting, and inventive lyrics that just get you into the music so much.

This review will give you all the reasons why do buy Timelord's full length debut, Regeneration. So listen up people, because you're in for one hell of a ride.

The frontman of Timelord is Matt Aub. Mr. Aub serves the purpose here of singing and playing guitar, as well as writing most of the music and all of the lyrics. In all the roles Matt does for the band, he does then perfectly . As a vocalist, Matt is amazing. This guy takes the high pitched and operatic European power metal style, the gruff and low end thrash metal vocal style, and puts them together flawlessly. Now, from this description, you may think that Aub is trying to sound like a more famous vocalist with the same first name, former Iced Earth singer Matt Barlow. Anyone who says that Aub is a clone of Barlow in his vocal style honestly does not know what they are talking about. This guy has his own voice in his singing, so it does not sound like a lame ripoff of Barlow or Bruce Dickinson. In fact, it sounds plain amazing. In the role a lyricist, Matt conjures up some truly wonderful lyrics in his mind, ranging from a five song epic about a girl named Gloria trying to reunite a kingdom her father lost, alchemy, a cult involved with talking to the dead, space travel, ancient spirits, and a game of chess that will decide the fate of humanity between god and the devil. Matt's lyrics are so good that you would not get them easily if it were not for the fact that he puts lyricist notes in the album booklet. Most of the songs here are written by both Aub and guitarist Richert, but there are a few songs he wrote entirely by himself. These songs are more power metal/speed metal sounding then the other ones, yet are still not one bit out of place or cheesy on the album at all. As a guitarist, Aub also succeeds with flying colors. His rhythms are incredibly tight and they are loading with ear catching, jaw dropping harmonies with fellow guitarist Aaron Richert that make you think why no one had ever thought up doing them before these two. But Aub isn't a rhythm guitarist alone, he is also a lead guitarist. In this role, Matt succeeds as well. His style is very similar to that of Marty Friedman, very neo classical with lots of extra exotics thrown in, but he also has a lot of sweeping in his solos that Friedman did not do a lot of. All in all, Matt is perfect for the role of running the band, yet does not make his bandmates glorify him. Instead, he makes sure all the members get their chance to shine. That is a hard thing to come by in today's metal bands, and it is a great thing for him to do.

Behind Matt, we also have fellow guitar virtuoso Aaron Richert. Richert is not just a rhythm guitarist. This guy is a true shredder. He is an amazing shredder, an absolutely amazing shredder. He does lots of these interesting harmonies with Matt that he shreds up and makes them sound ten times as interesting then they normally would. His leads also sound very spacey, so he has sort of a Joe Satriani like guitar tone, while Matt's tone is a bit more like Steve Vai's guitar tone. His style is also more akin to the master of the almighty Satch Boogie. Aaron is one guitar player with a real bag full of tricks here. Matt kind of follows the same formula with his solos, but Aaron's formula is always changing, not once is it the same. Most guitarists follow some kind of formula in their solos to base their variation upon, but Richert always throws caution at the wind and creates a new formula all the time. The songs Aaron wrote on the album are considerably heavier then the ones Matt wrote, and are more on the thrash metal side. But like Aub's songs, these pieces are not one bit out of place on Regeneration and only serve to further this album's overall sense of a true masterpiece. Mr. Richert also serves the role here of being Regeneration's producer (it was also recorded in his home based AMB Studios at Fairfax Virginia). Now most self produced albums tend to have absolutely horrible production. But Richert makes everything sound real, clear, neat, trim, full, rich, and just outright perfect, yet he did not overproduce the album. Just another virtuoso level member of the band.

In the rhythm section, we have two members. First off, we got bassist Joe Konzcal. Konzcal is a pretty nice bass player. All the lines that are throw at him he plays in time and with amazing precision. The lines he plays never follow completely along with the guitar, yet are not so out there that they sound out of place. They do follow somewhat, but they do not follow completely and stray away from that formula. His lines are also not lame fills that just make no sense, sort of like Marcel Schirmer of Destruction. The fills he does do really fit the music and perfectly. Our other rhythm section member is drummer Rick Hodes. Hodes one of the best drummers I have ever heard in my life. This guy has death metal speed, thrash and progressive technicality, yet blends the power metal style of rapid yet flowing double bass into this perfectly. His speed is truly punishing, and it must be heard to be believed. Yet he does not at all blast beat away, in fact when he does blast he does some of the most innovative beat patterns that I have heard since Pete Sandoval of Morbid Angel or Inferno of Behemoth. He is always in a forward state of momentum with his drums, and never sounds one bit out of time or out of place. So it is safe to say that Aub's choices for a rhythm section are definitely great choices.

Well there is more to Timelord then it's musicians, there are also some great songs to showcase their talent. So lets get into the album as it is, and that means it's time for the music.

The multi part epic about Gloria, and the album kicker is Dawn of Dissent. This song opens up with some cymbal usage on the part of Hodes, then Matt and Aaron come in with a dark and powerful harmony, with Joe backing them up on the low end with Hodes provided loads of cymbals and tom drum rolls to complement his band mates. Then, Aub goes all out in an amazing solo. Now this may seem out of place, but it is in not randomly put in there for the sake of putting in a solo like say, I do not know, Slayer. It actually fits the music, and showcases Matt's lead abilities without a single flaw. Then after a riff is played with Hodes showing off his punishing double bass speed, it then goes into the first verse. It then changes time and gets a bit slower and goes into this odd harmony which includes some keyboards to volley off of Matt's vocals, then him and Aaron do another harmony. Matt even does a quick fill of sweep picking that fits right into the odd place. Then in this odd semi spoken passage, the electric guitars are temporarily replaced by acoustics, but after Matt chants in latin “Pravus-Malum” twice, the electrics then come back in. Once this speaking part is over, Aaron begins to do this harmony that is shredding yet it's the same thing played a few times over, but it sounds just so awesome and fits the music so well that it does not annoy you. But when it ends, the song then breaks into a downright power metal like riff and then gets faster. After Matt sings a bit, he does another solo, and then Aaron gets his chance to finally go all out. Now we have already heard the guy do loads of harmonies, but when Aaron goes all out, it must be heard to be believed. Joe and Rick are constantly backing up their band mates, with Joe's bass not sounding one bit out of place, and all sorts incredibly technical and speedy drumming on the part of Mr. Hodes. By this part in the epic, Gloria's father has died and her father's kingdom has been taken over by some dictator called The Oppressor. Her father tells her she is the only one capable of destroying The Oppressor, and saving her father's creation from becoming a living hell. Though afraid at first, she then decides to join the rebellion against the dictator and bring peace to her homeland once and for all. Great way to kick off an album.

The next song on the album, while still an amazing track, will not get you hooked on as much as Dawn Of Dissent will. The Great Machine opens up with a math metal like riff, but it does not sound like one because Rick is not drumming in unison with the riff. He is keeping the time, no doubt about it (with help from Konzcal), and it's very technical, but it's not on a Meshuggah level of technicality. Then again, Timelord isn't about being that technical, and that makes them good. After the riff and time changes up a bit, it then gets you hooked. The way Matt centers his vocals around the guitar riff, with the way he does accents and his somewhat choppy patterns really get you into the song. The lyrics even get you hooked into it, as the first line of the song, “I am your god-The savior that implanted seeds inside your brain”. After this line, Matt even does a quick shred lick that really wows you. The refrain is also pretty catchy, with it's lyrics of “Gears are turning, all man will fall the great machine.” “Wheels are crushing, mankind will fall to the the great machine.” After the first refrain, Matt and Aaron trade off some more solos and then it repeats all over again, going into the verses again and then closing out with a slow yet powerful riff. This song's lyrics are about the actions that The Oppressor that Gloria is trying to destroy is doing to his people to ensure that when Gloria's dad died he'd have total control and would be able to easily oppress his subjects. The song describes that he does it through mind implants. So, unlike the previous track, The Great Machine is still quite amazing and will really impress you with the songwriting skills and musicianship of the band.

Slaves Prelude is basically a creepy intro into the next, so it really doesn't need to be there but the atmosphere it provides actually sounds kind of cool. Then it goes into the actual song Slaves. Like the The Great Machine, Slaves probably will not hook you because of the riffing or harmonies at first. This is the first song written entirely by Aub, and it's more on the power/speed metal side of things instead of the mix of power/thrash that was done on the previous tracks. This song really gets you by into it when Matt goes into the verses. After he sings the first two lines of lyrics, the harmony that comes quickly after and fades away just as quick hooks you up. But after the first verse, the chorus bridge, which consists solely of the line “Gloria awakes from the shadow of fear, the lion has wakened from slumber”, then you are really into it. After the refrain, which Matt shows how good he can pull off his power metal vocals, then it starts to get really good. It then gets into a really tight riff and the song changes time and becomes a lot darker. After that, Matt plays a simple yet shreddy pre solo medley, and then Aaron goes in for the kill. This guy shows off his shred chops plenty and then goes into the harmony theme, but it is Matt's solo that really impresses you here. It simply must be heard to be believed. By this point in Gloria's story, Gloria stops being in denial and finally comes up with plan to take out The Oppressor . After the pre-chorus and chorus are played again, the song then goes into a riff that fades away, and gives way to a light hearted keyboard sound that really builds up into the next track.

Though the last tracks were not as much of hookers yet were amazingly good anyway, the next track will really get you into it. Sparks Of Rebellion is written musically by Aaraon, but still lyrically by Matt. This song is considerably heavier then any song that came before it. It opens up with this very thrash metal like riff and then goes into Matt playing an amazing solo. The whole time, Konzcal's bass and Rick's drumming is always moving forward, providing key time and musical depth to make the song sound better and better as it goes on. This is key, for the song is incredibly fast and heavy. Even Matt's vocals, which were more on the higher, power metal register on the metal vocal scale, are heavier here, as they are more on the gruff low end of things. Yet at the same time, they retain that sort of European feel. It is sort of like RD Liapakis of Mystic Prophecy in a sense with how his voice sounds here. But anyway, the song veers in and out of speedy and brutal to slower and more melodic all the time, Hodes' double bass speed is downright amazing, and everything is absolutely punishing. It is also here that Aaron does some positively amazing solo work. Unlike Matt's which is sort of the same thing played three times over (but it is still just as amazing), Aaron's changes key and time radically throughout it. After the lyrics are repeated again it then fades. Sparks of Rebellion is definitely an enticer, and a great way to close out the epic involving Gloria, which ends with her and her rebels liberating The Oppressor's slaves and they go to assault his base. However the song ends as they begin the attack, so we do not know how it ends, but I am guessing it shall be amazing.

Getting off of the Gloria tracks, Cult Of The Dead, another song written entirely by Matt, opens up with a catchy power metal riff and a rapid snare drum role. It then goes into the same riff with some varied drumming from Hodes and plays out into Matt's vocals. Like the name says, Cult Of The Dead is a song about an ancient Assyrian cult that was committed to talking to the dead via their gods to find the answers to various questions. But the whole time Rick and Joe are absolutely punishing in their roles, and and Aaron and Matt make the riffs varied and change time loads of time. The choruses are very catchy, during them Aaron and Matt play a nice and catchy harmony and Hodes' unleashes all out double bass fury. After the song slows down a bit and Matt does some creepy vocals, Aaron and Matt explode into all out shred fury. This is stuff that guitar tech heads love, for this is some amazing and highly varied shred (even if Matt follows the same solo formula again). So even though this song is power/speed metal sounding and is not as heavy as the previous track, Cult Of The Dead as a brilliantly written and catchy, just another highly memorable track on Regeneration that increases the album's replay value again and again.

Our next track is Aeons Calling, and this is a return to the power/speed/thrash metal style that Aub and Richert come up together. The riff is a bit like a mix of The Great Machine and Slaves Riff combined with the intro Dawn Of Dissent riff, and it's very catchy and technically impressive. Hodes does his typical drumming again that is always going forward, with the rapid bursts of double bass and occasional snare drum bursts, along with rapid tom drum rolls done in the chorus that will blow you away with how fast they are. Matt's voice is a bit on the lower register at times, but then it goes all the way up as high as possible to an operatic like level in pitch as he sings in the refrain about the heavens calling humanity to explore new worlds and conquer the final frontier that is outer space. But this song is not just about mere space travel, it is in fact more about humans wrecking Earth to the point where we need to leave in the hope of survival. The harmonies on guitar that are done in the choruses and the somewhat shreddy riffs that are done are very tight. Aaron then does a rather simple solo for himself in the song, and it catches you completely off guard with it's speed and occasional key variation. Aub's solo is equally impressive, full of high speed sweeping and alternative picking that is so incredibly fluid and rapid it blows your mind clear away. Konzcal's bass is in constant forward momentum, and Hodes adapts to all the changing time with ease. An amazingly catchy song that will keep you into the piece the whole time, Aeons Calling represents Timelord at some of it's best moments yet, and really prep you for the experience in the next track.

A song with an interesting blend of power metal and Celtic folk, Sirens starts off with a riff you can start dancing to, and invokes the image of a Celtic tribe on the Irish coast doing some kind of ritual in the medieval times. This riff is catchy enough to entice you into the song, for the vocal patterns that Matt is singing in that match the riff that is played below it. Then the pre-chorus, with it's lines of “such beauty, such power, a madness to devour. Enchanting, all mortals, crushing their spirits” is downright catchy and even sort of sing a long like. The song is definitely on the slower side of Timelord, as Hodes' drumming is much more slowed down but still has plenty of double bass in it along with his signature drum rolls. But Joe's bass is there almost constantly, for on the songs before this the bass was only really prevalent at very key moments in the songs before it. On Sirens though, it is here all the time. The song is definitely the most straight forward on the entire album, for it does not change time or key much, except in the solo section. Matt and Aaron's leads are out of key, not to the point where it sounds wrong or does not make any sense, but it actually sounds very catchy and fabulous. Matt shines above Aaron here. The Mr. Richert's solo is spectacular in it's own right, Matt is just simply better then Aaron on this track. His solos (yes he does two here) are faster and more powerful then Richert's in this case. But still, the solo department is definitely something that a tech head guitarist or any metal head in general will be won over by. Despite all the shredding, tight rhythms, and catchy harmonies in the song, Sirens is just not as good mainly do to a almost doom metal sounding ending to the song that is very dark and heavy. As cool as this is, it simply does not fit the song very well. But other then that, it is fine.

The Alchemist opens with a slower sounding riff that is heavy and then goes into a solo by Matt, which is a bit on the weak side for the guy. Like songs like The Great Machine and Slaves, The Alchemist is not catchy because of it's riffs, but rather because of its catchy verses and choruses. When you hear the chorus, even if the beginning bored you a bit, your feeling of being into the song is totally reinstated when you hear the chorus. Hodes provides his trademark drumming to keep time, and Konzcal provides the key low end to make every thing seem very full and well thought out. After we hear the first two verses, we hear something that we have not heard since Dawn Of Dissent on the album. This is the clean parts with a dirty guitar solo, in this case it is done by Aaron. This has to be one of the guy's best solo on the album, as it weaves in and out of various time signatures and keys, and his shred chops really are shown off nicely. Then it breaks into this very catchy riff down by Matt with backup in the form of a drum roll from Rick and then it breaks into the chorus again.

The last few tracks are more just bonus tracks. One of these is a cover of Raven's Faster Then The Speed Of Light, which is more or less just a rerecording of the song with some different music. The reason, John Gallagher of Raven is the one singing the song, not Matt Aub. The main riff for this song has to be one of the speed/thrash metal riffs I have ever heard in my life. It is so incredibly catchy and powerful, you can tell this was something that speed/thrash metal future giants would be listening to. Rory's vocals are great, and they are backed up with really great musicians (not to say Raven is a bad band, but Timelord just blows them away). So Matt and Aaron back up John on guitar, Konzcal plays some of his finest bass, and Hodes does his snare/double bass rolls amazingly in the beginning. Rory's vocal performance is downright amazing, for this guy is one talented singer. You can tell this was a guy that future thrash metal and power metal singers were listening to when the two genres were starting to come of age. However the song is not too different from the Raven original, other then the fact that for some reason there is over nine minutes of utter silence. Why this is there I do not know, but it should not be there. Hence why I am subtracting a point off the album. But otherwise the song is just plain great.

The last three tracks are demos, and for all of them they succeed in their own right. Even though they are rough demos, they still sound pretty decent in terms of production. The devil's game is a fairly nice track, though a bit rough in it's composition, and you can tell Timelord is still working on ways to write out this track for a future recording. Wardozer is a high speed instrumental, and T.A.B is a great fusion like track with lots of acoustics and shredding mixed together. A great bit of extras that make the album worth the buy in the end.

Besides the small error on Faster Then The Speed Of Light, Timelord's debut Regeneration is a great way for the band to come out into the metal underground. They have totally gotten their approach down, they know what they are doing, and I am very interested in seeing future releases from this band. I also think that after listening to Regeneration, you will as well.