The End of Tomorrow

Second effort for Ravage, the band that thrived in the demo scene for 10 whole years with a lot of live albums and EPs before putting out the very cool Spectral Rider in 2005. This is their second effort, four years later and almost two decades after their original formation. These guys set some kind of a record for not putting out material and still being active the whole time. I mean seriously, after so long, is anyone actually interested in The End of Tomorrow anymore? Personally, I find this album pretty damned mediocre, if I was asked. And since I was technically asked, here's why:

Ravage play a stodgy, midpaced form of Heavy Metal not far removed from Judas Priest or Saxon, with a more modern crunch reminiscent of Cage's Darker than Black or maybe Godiva. Everything on here is loud and heavy, but at the expense of being riveting and exciting. I don't really know what went wrong. All the pieces are clearly there, but the band fails to put them all together in a way that makes for a really good album. Everything here is well produced and well played, but it doesn't really click. It's all very professional, but the songs do not captivate, and most of them even seem to drag on a little too long, without really knowing where they're going.

The vocals by Al Ravage are a steely mid-range that ends up being right in the middle of good and mediocre. He has this real warbly kind of voice that sounds good most of the time, and there are a few catchy choruses like on "Freedom Fighter" and the cool title track to go along with the crunchy riffage, but also a few that end up unmemorable, like "In Shattered Dreams" and "In Shackles." Again, it's kind of jumbled; a mixed bag if there ever was one.

The End of Tomorrow sadly ends up as a middling affair without enough direction to stay consistently engaging. The songs are decent but they just don't captivate me that much. Good songs like "The Shredder" and "Freedom Fighter" earn this one some points, but it's not enough. It isn't very exciting and while it makes for a pleasant listening experience, I can't get very hyped up about it. I hope this is just a sophomore slump. After all, this band wouldn't want their careers to end with their most exciting moment being a live album where the vocalist didn't make it to the show, would they?

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