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Rage > Carved in Stone > Reviews
Rage - Carved in Stone

Safe and solid, if a bit undistinguished - 78%

alexwolfguitar, March 31st, 2023

DISCLAIMER - The Smolski era of Rage features my favorite albums of all time, however objectivity and honesty are my primary objective with those reviews.

After the departure of drum virtuoso Mike Terrana, Rage brought some fresh blood into the fold with drummer André Hilgers and while Terrana's shoes are hard to fill, Hilgers brought his A-game and filled them perfectly well with Rage as seen in various concert videos where he pulls off his predecessor's parts without missing a beat. 2008's "Carved in Stone" marks Hilgers' first record with Rage and while he delivers a solid if more straight-ahead performance, this record is objectively a step down from the last three records even if it's one of my favorites by the band overall.

"Carved in Stone"'s title track opens up the record with arguably one of Rage's best melodies delivered by guitar maestro Victor Smolski, accompanied by the rest of the band and an orchestra that... disappears until the last song of the record? Indeed, excluding the intro to the title track and the album closer "Lord of the Flies", there is no grandiose orchestration or multi-part suites to be found on "Carved in Stone", the band delivering instead a fairly solid and consistent set of songs, if a bit undistinguished and safe. The production is pretty good for the most part except for the guitar tones that are for some reason the worst they've been on a Rage record featuring Smolski, but still very listenable. The drums, acoustic guitars and vocals sound great, but the distorted guitars stick out like a sore thumb and the bass is barely audible throughout the album.

There is little variety to be found on this record. The title track is reminiscent of more modern power metal, "Without You" features an acoustic intro and a Black Sabbath-inspired kind of main riff, "Open My Grave" has a sitar intro and interlude and an oriental kind of vibe, and album closer "Lord of the Flies" is a moody, dramatic piece with choirs and orchestration reminiscent of what could be found on Rage's 1999 record "Ghosts". As far as the rest of the record goes, there's little to say: while the songs are good, they are very similar in style in being the usual speedy heavy metal Rage has brought us time and time again and it just ends up falling behind it's 3 predecessor for being so... same-ish.

However more straight-forward of record this may be, one of the best elements of this record is the quality of the riffs executed by Smolski. Full of twist and turns in a way that reminds me of Eddie Van Halen on the first Van Halen records, albeit very much heavier, I would have qualified this record as a guitarist's album if it weren't for the usual catchy and memorable vocal melodies of bassist-vocalist Peavy, who sounds as great as he did on the last few records.

Even though "Carved in Stone" is probably my 3rd favorite Rage record for personal and nostaligc reasons and one that I revisit very often, it's fairly hard to give it the same score as the three last records. As I said before, it's a safe and solid record that doesn't overstay it's welcome but offer little in the way of variety, which is something that came to be expected on a Peavy and Smolski record with the classically-inspired suites on "Soundchaser" and "Speak of the Dead". It still holds a dear place in my heart being one of the first Rage records I've heard in my life.

Highlights:
Carved in Stone
One Step Ahead
Lost In The Void
Lord of the Flies

Least favorites:
Drop Dead!
Gentle Murders
Long Hard Road

Victor Crankenstein to the rescue - 80%

autothrall, February 11th, 2021
Written based on this version: 2008, CD, Nuclear Blast

For its first few moments of keyboard orchestration accompanying the guitars, Carved in Stone comes across like a spiritual successor to the Ghosts album, and in truth I heard a few melodic nods to those tunes a number of times throughout the album. However, this is an effort much more steeped in the ever increasing guitar theatrics of the talented Mr. Victor Smolski, who manages to balance off his finesse fairly well with the songwriting, using his prowess with a lot of fills and busy rhythm licks that actually serve to make song progressions more interesting than they might have been if they were left more...plain. This is far from the most memorable of Rage's output, but it's a typically strong affair which does attempt a few new riff ideas. More importantly, while Peavy is not as his shrieking heights, he does have a decent sustain when he ups his pitch a little here...much of his performance is still the gritty, lower growl, but there's a breath of vitality erupting on certain songs that hints at an earnest youthfulness.

Musically this is still the lower-end driven sort of power metal that Rage had been performing since the 90s, with the slightly thrash/groove undertones in that occupy a lot of verse and bridge sections. The bass lines are thick and pounding, and there's a spirited, hard-hitting Hilgers performance, all of which makes for a great sandbox through which Smolski can just go wild. He keeps it well under control, don't get me wrong, but hurls a lot of fine squeals, harmonies and wailing micro-leads at us that are entertaining. I've said it before, but Victor is like the Ozzy guitarist that never was...he has the flash and technique of all of Osbourne's famed axemen (Rhoads, Lee, Wylde), all rolled up into one person with the added onus that he's got a more neo-classical shredder leaning to, and there just came a point in this band's career when he started OWNING the material. That's not to diminish the recognizable traits of Wagner's vocals and the fact that those two are as mighty a rhythm fusion as you're going to get, but it's always Smolki who is punching through the stratosphere and providing us with a 'new' feel to the material, very evident in a track like "Gentle Murders" where he lets loose with some wild patterns and a great self-dueling solo that is threaded with these technical little muted picked lines that are fantastic.

The band can certainly simplify, as it does with the slightly dumber groove metal of "Open My Grave", and these are probably my least favorite moments on Carved in Stone, although even this one does turn into a slightly dreamy, jazzy pre-chorus where it instantly improves. There are no tracks here which entirely lack for good moments...even the woozy acoustics that introduce "Without You" erupt into this blazing, groovy Sabbath-like rhythm and then just amazing guitar theatrics throughout. I know I keep coming back to it, but this is really an album which wouldn't suffer so much if I were simply watching Victor jam it all out in preparation at a rehearsal room; he's such an entertaining player and you never quite know where he's going next, even if you're familiar with his overall bag of tricks. If it stumbles, it never does for long, and the worst I can say for this one is that it blends in a lot with other recordings in their 21st century catalogue so that it doesn't really approach a landmark. But I dig most of it.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

Carved in satisfactory. - 70%

Diamhea, November 25th, 2014
Written based on this version: 2008, CD, Nuclear Blast

After the expansive and multilateral Speak of the Dead pushed the limits of Rage's various eccentricities to the logical breaking point (with stellar returns, mind you) I was quite invested to see where Wagner would take proceedings next. It shouldn't come off as a surprise, or necessarily a bad move on paper, that these Germans decided to scale back the theatrical slant and get back to the supposed basics. Carved in Stone, while hardly a memorable or inventive title at face value, definitely holds a deeper meaning. The espousal of nearly all tertiary distractions and a refined reliance on bulldozer riffs paired with Wagner's drawl makes a decent aggregate of sense considering the state of the band at this point, but this permutation of Rage is at their best when they experiment. The loss of Terrana's percussive masterwork definitely leaves a void right off the bat, one that Hilgers can't hope to perfuse.

So things aren't looking too bright going in, but if Rage is what you seek, you will definitely find plenty of it here. Carved in Stone gets the job done, but can't help but feel a tad stilted and forced at times. The natural character defined by Smolski's creative outbursts is seriously throttled here, and the lasting power takes quite a hit as a result. Don't get me wrong, the riffs are still killer, certainly a more lumbering, deadly alternative to some of the smoother fare that came before, but one can audibly sense Smolski testing the boundaries repeatedly and finding himself somewhat boxed in. Regardless, the album still delivers the goods most of the time. Plenty of typically-memorable Rage choruses to go around, although some like "One Step Ahead" and the title track are catchy in an annoying way. Peavy is in pretty commendable form at least, as there is really quite little to complain about vocally. He has gained control of his upper register over the years, and while his current characteristics aren't quite comparable to his more youthful timbre, there is definitely a refined quality that bolsters much of Rage's more recent work.

Carved in Stone's strongest facet is definitely the riffs, though. I'm really digging the stripped-down, dirty spirit pulsating throughout Smolski's chops here, and he proves yet again that he is perhaps as multifarious as they come. Those looking for the familial heavy/power template these Germans have so long hung their collective hat upon will definitely be satiated, although there is a concerning lack of variance and speed on the whole. These faults along with the fact that the band takes few risks hurts the record a bit, but that doesn't discount the fact that Carved in Stone boasts a fairly distinct identity and stands decidedly apart from the two (at the time of this writing) albums that came directly after it. The grimy riffs and powerful chops really come together on tracks like "Drop Dead!," which is probably my favorite number here. It truly kicks the door in opening up and delivers for the duration, featuring one of the more stellar choruses the band has delivered in recent years. "Without You" sounds a bit maudlin and forced at first, but is a rather deceiving number on the whole, as it contains some of the more inventive progressions present here.

That said, the song that consistently stands out for most listeners is "Lord of the Flies," which brings back some of the cinematic scope that was common fare on Ghosts and some of the Lingua Mortis collaborations. It is definitely a nice way to end things, and reminds us that Rage can still pull audacious genre fraternization off spectacularly. Sadly, it also emphasizes the shortcomings concerning the rest of the material. Material that while somewhat standard and typical for these guys, is still inherently Rage and is more than passable as a result. Not their finest hour by any measure, but hey, it works for me.

A little clumsy, but plenty of good riffs. - 66%

AnalogKid, July 14th, 2012

After Mike Terrana’s departure from the band in 2006, Rage picked up drummer Andre Hilgers for their 2008 release Carved In Stone. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this led the band back towards a slightly more simple, straightforward release. Carved In Stone is probably the band’s least ambitious and symphonic release within recent memory, with a tendency towards more tried and true formats and sounds. Of course, since Rage’s “standard” heavy metal formula has long been a winning one, this could only result in another solid, if unremarkable, release.

It would be just like Rage to attempt to prove me wrong with their opening song, and the title track delivers in every way: a dramatic symphonic introduction, rock solid riffing, and a supremely memorable chorus. It pains me to say that this is easily the strongest track on the album, and my favorite by a fair margin. “Drop Dead!” sounds decidedly like Victor Smolski was just having fun screwing around with riffing one day when Peavy said “Hey that’s great, let’s make a song out of it about how I’m feeling today!” This is where the album becomes a little more banal (though I guess the lyricism of the title track might also qualify), with an unremarkable verse and a rather dumb chorus. While this is an occasional trait that Rage often exhibits sooner or later in their albums, it happens much earlier than I’d like on Carved In Stone.

While it’s not a downward spiral, most of the rest of the album is so-so to moderately good. “Open My Grave” is refreshingly not about politics or religion, and has a great mixture of aggression and mellow interludes, but “One Step Ahead” somewhat ruins its purposeful stomp with some of the uninspired “Open your mind, man!” anti-religious lyrics that occasionally plague the band. Smolski has taken a more casual approach here, but while he’s tearing down fewer walls than usual, the same solid framework of guitar work is as present as always.

Being the first Rage album featuring Andre Hilgers on drums, the change in percussive force and drumming style is somewhat noticeable, but not overly so. This is due in part to the more conventional layout and styling of Carved In Stone, particularly in contrast to its predecessor Speak Of The Dead. Peavey’s growling clean vocals on the other hand, have never been better, and that’s really the showcase here. Even on the softer, macabre “Lord Of The Flies” (a very good song), his performance is striking and memorable. “Lord Of The Flies” finally comes full circle

Concisely, I consider Carved In Stone to be the band’s weakest (and I use the word VERY subjectively) effort amongst their more recent releases. For some who prefer the band’s less experimental and symphonic side however, this might actually be preferable. Aside from some of the band’s inexpert attempts to narrate religious and political struggles, this is a sturdy album, and recommended easily to every fan of the band. However, I would not give it to someone looking to get into the band for the first time.

Original review written for Black Wind Metal

Pop-ish power metal, fairly enjoyable. - 60%

Nhorf, September 11th, 2008

Despite not being the most legendary band out there, I always held Rage in the highest of the regards. Obviously, when I saw this album available I immediately picked it up, in order to see if they really were such a good band. I wasn't expecting any masterpiece, after all this is their latest album, and they have already released tons of them. Inspiration ends, you know (well, the inspiration of Opeth seems to never end... nevermind). Well, in the end, “Carved in Stone” is a fairly consistent and solid record, it surely isn't THAT good but it is good enough to make me consider buying more Rage records soon.

“Carved in Stone” can be labeled as a 'pop-ish power metal' record, there are tons of decent riffs and even some interesting solos present here. But why 'pop-ish power metal' and not just 'power metal', you ask? Well, the vocal lines (Peavy is a pretty competent singer, by the way, I like his voice) are all pretty memorable and there's an incredible emphasis on the choruses. Plus, the songs are very short and acessible, always following similar structures. Almost every song begins with the main guitar riff of the song being played alone, the drums kicking in then. The vocalist sings some verses, we reach the chorus, the verses and chorus are repeated, there's a guitar solo, the refrain is repeated again and the song ends. Well, almost every track follows this structure indeed, which harms the whole listening experience. I like variety, and there are none to be found here.

The title track begins the album, and it probably is the best song here. Great soft riff in the beginning, the track becoming heavier and heavier, until the vocals kick in. “Drop Dead!” carries a disgusting Trivium-influenced chorus, but it isn't an abomination, all in all it is fairly memorable and strong, and so is “Mouth of Greed”. “Gentle Murders” is a bit different, thankfully, great solo and main riff! “Without You” is the pop-ish, slightly commercial ballad, with its anthemic chorus and soft acoustic guitar lines. The other songs basically follow the same path, they are filled with some nice power metal-ish riffs (sometimes, the guitarist even plays some groovy riffs, they work decently well, after all). And now for something completely different... “Lord of the Flies”! No, it isn't that lost Iron Maiden single, sung by Blaze “Dickinson is better than me” Bayley, it is a... Rhapsody-influenced track! Yeah, expect choirs that would make Hansi Kurch the happiest guy in the world and strange keyboard sounds too! Power metal heaven! But well, all in all, the track ends up (surprise of the surprises) being the highlight of the album: great atmosphere and the song flows pretty well as a whole. A pretty dark song, a perfect ending for the album.

So, an enjoyable metal album, at the end of the day, don't expect anything brilliant here though. However, if you want a simple, catchy album, “Carved in Stone” was made for you.

Best Moments of the CD:
-hm... the solo of the third track, perhaps.

Coming of Rage - 95%

Cadaever, June 27th, 2008

Thank the lord, it’s that time again, a new Rage album is upon us. Once again Peavy and Victor, joined this time by Andres Hilgers on the drums after the slightly achromous departure of Mike Terrana, have come up with another classic set of songs. These guys just don’t put out bad albums.

The last effort ‘Speak of the Dead’ saw them experiment slightly; one half of the album was accompanied with a full orchestra and the other half with a more complex and progressive approach than usual, more ‘Welcome to the Other Side’ than ‘Unity’ or ‘Soundchaser’.

If that wasn’t your bag then have ‘No Fear’ (get it?), ‘Carved in Stone’ is an almost experimental free zone, with 10 straight to the point metal songs, if you liked ‘Unity’ then this will be right up your street. Well I say 10 maybe it should be 9 as the last song is something of an experiment but we’ll come to that latter, you won’t be disappointed that’s all I’ll say for now.

‘Carved in Stone’ doesn’t come racing out of the blocks instead the title track ushers us in gently with a beautiful melodic guitar intro that builds into an impressive military march, but that’s just to lull us into a false sense of security, because one minute in, bang, Andres drums kick in and Victor and Peavy knock us to the floor with a big fat monster riff. This is classic rage, an up-tempo power/thrash song with an almost hymn like chorus and an awesome solo by Victor.

It seems as if Peavy and co want us to bang our heads as much as possible with the first four songs, ‘Drop Dead’ follows the title track with a massive downward spiralling riff typical of Victor, it’s a fast tune and again has a fantastic chorus, so catchy it’s almost pop like in structure with an almost AOR like chord chop countering the heavy parts. ‘Gentle Murders’ doesn’t let up either, probably the most ‘Unity’ sounding song, again great riffs and harmonies throughout. ‘Open My Grave’ starts off like ‘Shame on You’ from the ‘Trapped’ album, a fast Arabic acoustic guitar/sitar intro before we head into one of the heaviest songs since ‘Black in Mind’, the heavy pummelling riffs continue the eastern vibe but again this is offset by a simply huge chorus, with a classic galloping riff.

This is really the standout feature of this album, the choruses, Rage have always been known for catchy melodies and hooks but this album takes this to another level, some might say too much so, but for me that’s one of the strongest aspects of ‘Carved in Stone’ the contrast between the very heavy and the über catchy!

The next few tracks throttle back a little with the heaviness; ‘Without You’ is semi-ballad like, think ‘Full Moon’ off ‘Speak of th Dead’, starting off with a sweet acoustic guitar and clean vocals it soon picks up into a mid-tempo stomper with some great riffs. ‘Long Hard Road’ is my least favourite song, the riffs here are just a little too pedestrian and obvious, but it still has an excellent chorus, it’s not a bad song just weaker than the excellent material around it. ‘One Step Ahead’, ‘Lost in the Void’ and ‘Mouth of Greed’ leads us through the last half of the album with aplomb. ‘Step’ is a fat mid-tempo groover with lots of cool guitar parts and cool melodies. While ‘Void’ is faster with a stop/start feel, and Victor absolutely shreds on the solo on this one. ‘Mouth’ is a mini-epic, with lots of different parts and moods, heavy riffs, little clean guitar parts and squealing harmonics; the vocal arrangement is a bit different as well, with yet again another brilliant chorus.

And that brings us to the last and most ambitious track: the awesome ‘Lord of the Flies’, this is honestly one of the best songs the band has ever written. I absolutely love it. It’s a dark and operatic piece with orchestration, choir and female vocals, organ and piano, similar to past glories but with a fresh, epic, impressive, atmospheric and very ambitious arrangement.

Starting with what sounds like a dusty old chest opening, the next few bars sound like the opening keyboards from U2’s ‘Where the Streets have no name’ (no really), then an eerie music box chime before the choir and orchestra cuts in with a church organ and female vocals taking up the main theme, then the band cuts in very heavy, the verses are ballad like and the main theme driving and dark. The track ends with the eerie music box chime and the dusty old chest closes. Fantastic this really is a masterpiece of song-writing, my only complaint with this song is that it’s too short!

I must just mention the awesome production, continuing the great work started on ‘Unity’ and followed up by ‘Soundchaser’ and ‘Speak of the Dead’ this is just top notch, the guitar sound is thick and heavy, the bass clear and locked in to the crystal clear drums. Oh, and as usual the band performance is virtuoso, Victor is one of the most talented and unique guitarists in music today and as usual gives a fantastic performance. Peavy is just Peavy, his vocals are some of his best yet and while it’s easy to forget his talents on the bass, especially with Victor on board, he also gives a master class performance. The best compliment I can give to Andres is that Mike Teranna is not missed, Andre might not be quite the power house Mike is, but his performance here is much more than solid, his fills and fast bass drum work (I think his feet are faster than Mikes) suit the music perfectly.

Well there we have it, another brilliant album by the German veterans. If you like classic metal with a power/thrash feel to it then I beg you give it a try; you won’t be disappointed in any way. After 2 or 3 listens I guarantee you’ll be humming these songs for weeks! But it’s not just an instant hit; the quality of the writing is such that there is enough going on for it to be a long lasting listen as well. Rage show no sign of letting up and ‘Carved in Stone’ is one of their strongest releases in an altogether impressive back catalogue

Pissed-off and stripped down, but also a step back - 79%

DarthVenom, June 11th, 2008

Rage, for all the attention that they deserve and don’t quite reap, are a band that doesn’t seem to know how to disappoint – at least, not in very large ways. After 2006’s strong Speak Of The Dead that combined their latter-era power and heaviness with their mid-era orchestration, Carved In Stone strips things down and delivers a sound that focuses more on power and riffing than the band’s familiar fusion of heavy riffs and classy melody.

The lyrics are another unique point that fit with the musical direction: this is the showcase of a band that’s pissed off at the state of the world and not afraid to show it. The title track is a faux-melodic, well-paced tirade against the Bush Administration’s “war on terror”. One Step Ahead rails hard against religious conservatives with help from its punchy verse riffs and melodic chorus line. In the stomping grower Drop Dead, Peavy literally tells his ideological opponents to “Go away – drop dead, may return a better man”. It’s a formula that works in tandem with the music, which as mentioned is hard-hitting. This does bring downfalls, however: Peavy’s vocal lines really aren’t as memorable as in previous albums. You remember that rousing chorus of War Of Worlds, or the whole of the ultra-catchy Down? Unfortunately, there are only a few moments on this album where Peavy and Viktor’s fusion creates the same level of spot-on euphoria as on those classic albums.

In some perverse way, I think what they’ve got going here works in a different style: the theme undercutting the whole album is one of pissed-off displeasure at those who are either dragging this world down or who are so set in their ways that they refuse to change for the better – not including the fantasy- or cinema-based song Open My Grave, which I find to be merely a listenable track except for the excellent middle section. So the angry mood works, like I mentioned, in a way that the classic Rage formulas (Be it the speedy onslaught of their early work, the symphonic atmosphere of their mid-era or the slamming heavy/power metal we know from them today) might falter with.

The new drummer Hilgers puts forth a solid job. There aren’t really any points on the album where he really gets a chance to strut his stuff with the Portnoys and Hoglans of the world, so I for one am eagerly awaiting a chance to see what further the ‘new guy’ is capable of. As a plus, he makes me not miss Terrana – have fun in Masterplan, Mike, because your former seat behind Rage’s kit has been filled well. Smolski’s guitar licks are, as mentioned, thick and powerful, but the production helps out with a decidedly crunchy edge – a perfect fit for stripped-down Rage. Viktor’s solos aren’t quite what they were on earlier albums – rather than incredible solos like in Dies Irae, these ones are more or less there-and-gone, but they’re not terrible by any means. Peavy’s bass is ever-present albeit somewhat buried under Smolski’s riffs at times, but listen close and you’ll hear it doing nothing particularly of note, but it works well enough.

The real standout track here is the finale, Lord Of The Flies. Rather than the aggressive, upset-and-messy vibe running through the rest of this record, this is a very eerie track that recalls the Speak Of The Dead style of orchestration, or the Lingua Mortis trilogy. It’s a gloomy, brooding track that takes its time to build (As opposed to the rest of the otherwise-straightforward album). The trio is spot-on with the atmosphere at work here, but music like this song must be listened to be done justice to. Listen to it.

For those of you lucky enough to have secured the version with the DVD of Rage’s Wacken 2007 performance, you’re in for a real treat. I’ll make a bold statement here and say straight-up that this Wacken performance captures Peavy in perhaps his finest performance ever. His voice seems deeper yet sharper than normal in the show, and at many points he uses this kind of vibrato that I would liken to a deeper (much, MUCH deeper, but you get the idea) Tobias Sammet, a trait that doesn’t really show up on the many other Rage recordings I’ve heard – for a great example, see the electrifying rendition of Innocent. The entire performance is aided by the Lingua Mortis orchestra, and not many risks are taken to that end – in other words, you won’t hear classics like All I Want or Soundchaser re-done with an orchestral backing, just mainly stuff that was orchestrated already (Well, there’s Higher Than The Sky, but I think that’s the only one). The string work in the orchestra seems massively improved from the albums these songs originally appeared on, with much more clarity and definition to it. Great and even-handed camera work, crisp picture and sound quality and a massive, enthusiastic audience make this show a treat.

At over an hour in length (and that’s just for the Wacken performance, not including the music videos), the DVD could easily have been sold separately, and it more than redeems the slightly disappointing main album. Bear in mind, folks, “slightly disappointing” when referring to Rage should be read as “Approach with caution if you’re just a casual fan or new to the band entirely, but still worth your time and money”. I couldn’t in all justice give this an 80% or higher, because to me that denotes an A-rank, and the album we have here is for the most part B-plus material when compared to Rage’s shining back catalogue. The DVD included with the special edition is completely worth it and should punt the rating up into the low 80s, but I had to compromise for the people who are just going to be buying the bare-bones album, so 79 per cent sounds about right.

If you’re new to the band, pick up Perfect Man for their speedy era, Ghosts for their symphonic era and/or Unity and Soundchaser for their latter era. But if you can find the two-disc version of this album, pick it up.

Still standing strong! - 89%

iron_armor, February 3rd, 2008

Rage's new album is a strong release, no matter how you look at it. Peavy still delivers a good vocal performance even though he doesn't use many of those extremely high notes anymore. With each album Victor Smolski seems to have a greater songwriting influence and Carved in Stone is no exception. The solos on here more than ever focus on the progressive side of the band. That's probably the main difference of this album to it's predecessors. It's not quite as heavy as say Soundchaser, but it makes more than up for this with its refined approach to guitar solos and riffing.

The drumming on here is as good as usual, even if Mike Terrana had to leave the band due to his dissatisfaction with their direction. Sometimes you might hear the fact, that there is another beast behind the drums on here but the difference is really only marginal. It's not a coincidence that Andre Hilgers is one of the most famous German drummers after all.

The album kicks off with the title track, which is a good example for the progressive direction, the band seems to be heading in. A Nice solo, a great chorus and incredible guitar work leave nothing to be desired here. Then it gets significantly heavier with the next two songs. Especially Gentle Murders has an awesome chorus!
Open My Grave is more filler and Without You is the only semiballad of the album. The second half of the record is IMO much stronger than the first half. Long Hard Road is the best song I've heard from Rage in years, it almost matches the quality of some material off Soundchaser.
Lord Of The Flies is a very good closer and sadly the only song incorporating symphonic elements on here. It's an awesome song with haunting vocals and some satisfying leads by Victor.

Rage's new album is a very strong effort and even if it doesn't quite match the quality of some of their newer material, it's still certain to please the fans and maybe even appeal to a larger target group with its more refined approach to the progressive side of the band!!!

Without Rage - 80%

PatrickAbydos, February 3rd, 2008

I must say that I've never liked Peavy's voice although I've always enjoyed Rage's albums and I think they've done some high quality stuff in the past. The reason which makes me ignore the singing and love this band it's the Peavy-Smolsky connection which is one of the best in the metal scene in terms of composition. They always deliver powerfull songs with a typical sound that the band's fans always hope to get in every new album. A clear example is that Unity, Soundchaser and Speak of the Dead are fantastic albums with innovative sounds, a lot of progressive passages and amazing guitar riffs and solos, these albums has the same Rage's sound but with the progression that every release needs to keep the audience interested.

The main problem with Carved in Stone is that it hasn't progression at all. It's like listening previous tracks over and over again, every sound and riff has been heard and done before. Another huge factor is the poor voice from Peavy which makes the album even more monotonous, I think they should get another singer with more rage, power and variation in his voice.

It's a good effort but not enough for me... Certainly I enjoyed some minutes with a few songs, specially with some guitar solos or riffs but sooner than later I found myself thinking in doing something else or listening another album. I can say that from Carved In Stone to Open My Grave, being the last one the best song from the album, the albums it's ok... from this point further the thing it's always the same until Lord of the Flies which has the symphonic moments that every fan loves and it's one of the reasons why I don't give this a lower grade.

Finally, I don't think that this talented musicians has lost their gifts to make another masterpiece in the future, I only think that maybe Carved In Stone is the lack of inspiration as a result of continuous years working without stopping.

Shadow Gallery called... - 50%

olo, January 26th, 2008

Shadow Gallery called. They want their album name back. Wait a second, hold on, phone call.. "Hello there. Oh hey Vince Neil. Of course, I'll tell them".

Hello kiddies, how have you been? I've got to tell you, I absolutely hate it when a band does this smashing intro-verse section that is absolute metal and do the singalong major scale chorus with a key change. It's very dumb and to these ears, very typical Cop-Out Euro. Yaw'll should understand, Cop-Out America likewise is when you do thrash-groovy-at-the-gatesy intro-verse and do a singalong chorus. These are the modern metal equivalent of truck driver's gear change, one of the most ill-exploited banalities in songwriting.

With Carved in Stone, the german veterans-of-sorts return to a relatively more stripped-down approach with a new drummer. Prog-power-neoclassical metal drum whore Mike Terrana apparently decided he has some musical and personal differences with these guys. I guess he doesn't have any creative or personal differences with Axel Rudi(mentary) Pell, one of the world's shittiest guitar heroes ever. I digress, but taking the choruses into consideration principally, Carved in Stone is almost on the wrong side of the fence for me. I also don't care for the compressed drum sound and was disappointed with Victor Smolski's guitar solos too. Many solos have no character whatsoever. No buildups and no fucking drama. Even if he's starting off with a melody, he'd play it for a couple of bars and immediately switch to doing the whammy-abuse shred gimmick licks. Very generic superstratsy, if you know what I'm talking about. If I knew him, I'd hand him some Criss Oliva material.

Last I heard this band was when Soundchaser (2003) just came out and I remember liking that one more, but that CD had Remedy Lane (by Pain of Salvation, which sadly was their last out and out great effort) on it too so the Rage never got too much play. This is decent and it's bound to top metal-rules' 2008 lists and make the Wacken Metal Nerds cream their pants. I'd summate and give it 50%. Of course, YMMV and all that shit.

Originally written for http://www.kvltsite.com

A shadow of a formerly inspiring band. - 65%

Empyreal, January 22nd, 2008

What the fuck happened? Welcome to the Other Side, Unity and Soundchaser were amongst my favorite Power Metal albums, and even 2006's rather lackluster effort Speak of the Dead had a few excellent tracks shining through the bland nature of some of the dreck on it. In the same nature of several of their aging contemporaries, though, Rage are slowly decaying to dust, and their sound is becoming less genre-defining and powerful, as Carved in Stone is a pale shadow of everything I liked about this band.

If you were to hear this album with no prior knowledge of any Rage albums, then you might like it better than I do. On the surface it's still the same band I love, as the lineup hasn't changed and the style of music is still the same gritty, ballsy flavor of Power Metal that they've always played, but upon comparing this one to Unity, you start to realize exactly how weak and neutered this new album really is. Peavy's vocal melodies are not very strong here, never sticking in your head the way they did on previous albums, and he never lets loose and bellows here either. The riff construction is terribly sloppy and lackluster this time around, and the choruses are as bland as they can possibly get. While the guitar leads are sometimes stirring, the final product is one of shocking mediocrity. Rage have been on a steady decline for a while now, but at least Soundchaser had some really great songwriting and flowed excellently as a whole. At least Speak of the Dead had a handful of tracks that could still kick your ass around the room. This? This has nothing.

Originally written for http://www.metalcrypt.com