In Your Honour

Within Black Majesty’s discography, In Your Honour is certainly an oddity. Though unmistakably power metal, it does ditch the subtle progressive leanings that were highly omnipresent on their first three albums and even the subsequent (as of the time of writing this) three albums. This winds up focusing more on straight-up catchy tunes with big melodies – these big melodies being throughout the whole songs, not just the choruses. Although it is ultimately a more streamlined, compact version of Silent Company, it does show that Black Majesty can still lay down strong melodies like the best of them nonetheless! One whiff of the intro track’s tremolo leads, steely verse riffs and Cavaliere’s rather cavalier vocal performance, and it’s rather undeniable how forward-facing the music is this time around.

Melodic leads – be they licky in nature like “God of War” or a genuine passage like “Break These Chains” – immediately capture one’s unsuspecting attention. The ensuing riffs, either crashing down and pummeling the senses like “Far Beyond”, rocking and rolling like “God of War”, shredding like “Further Than Insane” or giving bass to the leads like “Break These Chains”, come at you like a high-speed Bugatti. The choruses marry these elements and place a giant vocal melody like the cherry on top to put together something strikingly memorable. Basically, the philosophy behind each song is about the same, but elements, vocal melodies and even just basic riffing approaches keep the songs distinct from one another, allowing all nine songs to stand tall.

At any rate, from an execution standpoint, In Your Honour stands as the antithesis of post-2005 power metal. Most albums have a catchy anthemic kind of joint like “God of War”, an energetic shredder like “Further Than Insane” or a pulse-pounding climax like “Witching Hour”; hidden amidst a bunch of cliche-ridden mediocrity. Not this album – all songs are a hoot! The funny thing is that it could easily have been a standard post-2005 power metal album, too! Following the relative failure of the proggier Tomorrowland, In Your Honour is more like a branching path from Silent Company or even Sands of Time where the band was more about belting out a more straightforward assault than the more evocative soundscapes that they tried and failed to on Tomorrowland. Yet because of their ability to create striking melodies, even a less complex approach can sound tops just on the strengths of its execution.

Ironically, going back to basics and doubling down on the other side of their sound results in In Your Honour being a great power album. Maybe not as good as Silent Company, and perhaps it is better than it really has any right to be on a philosophical level. But when push comes to shove, Black Majesty can pull out all the stops to make some rousing, highly melodic power metal, full of tight compositions that result in some strikingly memorable power metal nonetheless.

Australian power metal group, Black Majesty, have made some leaps and bounds in the metal world since their inception in 2002. A local Melbourne band originally, Black Majesty took their powerful and melodic riffs and soaring vocals overseas and found success in Europe. A hard thing to do for an Aussie metal group, but Black Majesty gained exposure and popularity across Europe and have paved the way for other Australian metal bands to be able to do the same.

Black Majesty has also gained exposure by supporting the big bands that have made the trek to the land down under. Black Majesty have opened for bands like Dragonforce, Nightwish and Helloween, and from first hand knowledge, they certainly know how to rock the crowd; while gaining new fans in the process.

Signed with European label, Limb Music, Black Majesty have released 4 solid albums, with their latest entitled ‘In Your Honour’. While the debut release (‘Sands of Time’) was fairly solid going by all reports and reviews, it was their follow up, ‘Silent Company’ which brought Black Majesty to the overseas market and the success and exposure that they have today. The Aussie band found their niche with the excellent ‘Silent Company’, which carried over to their 3rd release, ‘Tomorrowland’; another honest and solid effort by the Aussie quartet.

This brings us to the new CD, ‘In Your Honour’. For this record, Black Majesty travelled to Europe, to the country of Slovakia, where they received the knowledge and talent of a high profile personality in the metal scene. I speak of none other than Masterplan guitarist, Roland Grapow. With the vocals and guitars recorded by Endel Rivers at Palm Studios, Melbourne, the drums were recorded by Grapow at his studio in Slovakia. The album was also mixed by Roland Grapow at his studio and then mastered by Rebellion founder and guitarist, Uwe Lulis in Germany. Black Majesty have a history of big heads in metal lending their support, as with ‘Tomorrowland’, the record was mastered by R.D. Liapakis (Mystic Prophecy).

Incorporating a heavier feel throughout the disc, while retaining the band’s trademark melodic sound, the album has a powerful edge and a refreshing nature. This was missing somewhat on the ‘Tomorrowland’ release, which despite being quite solid overall, it was a CD that felt like it was done by the numbers. ‘In Your Honour’ boasts catchy and creative songs that can be compared to the quality and standout tracks on their ‘Silent company’ disc, but with a crisp, fine polished finish. John Cavaliere’s vocals may suffer from a slight lack of diversity at times, but no one can dismiss his striking and soaring wails and well respected passion that he displays to all on every release. On ‘In Your Honour’, Cavaliere once again sings his heart out, with great gusto and emotion and I’m left thinking that he is truly an underrated vocalist.

Black Majesty have rarely strayed from their key signature sound since the beginning, and the same continues here with the new disc. With that being said, I do feel that the latest album is inspired, bolder and bigger than the previous 3 releases. With Roland Grapow and Uwe Lulis in their corner, the expectations on ‘In Your Honour’ are much higher than ever before. In the end, this new release may not be groundbreaking, or a masterpiece of epic proportions, but it is an improvement over ‘Tomorrowland’ and right up there with (if not better than) ‘Silent Company’.

“Far Beyond”, the opening bombastic and speedy track sets the pace of the disc and also the quality. With great depth and melody, the track is an instant Black Majesty classic. The twin guitar blasts of Steve Janevski and Hanny Mohammed reign supreme over the track and it’s easy to say that “Far Beyond” is one of the best tracks on the album. While “God of War” has a catchy and impressive chorus and solo, “Millenium” has a darker feel, with a sound reminiscent of Kamelot. After the slow, soaring and emotional “Break These Chains”, the pace picks up with thunderous grooves of “Further Than Sane”.

The fantastic “End of Time” begins with a catchy riff, while the track is a melodic mid-paced winner, with precise and strong guitar chords and energetic singing from Cavaliere. The album concludes with the final 3 tracks, “Wish You Well”, the uplifting and guitar driven “Follow” and the swift “Witching Hour”. I must say I was left very impressed with ‘In Your Honour’, after ‘Tomorrowland’ left me thinking they could have done more. Black Majesty have come out with all guns blazing and it really shows with such high quality of tracks on the disc. They are all quite consistent and all very good. Black Majesty have improved considerably since the third release, sounding sharper, brighter, heavier and more inspired than ever before. In terms of consistency and overall catchiness and quality; ‘In Your Honour’ is Black Majesty’s best release to date.

All melodic power metal fans should jump onto this album, not just because it is a great release in its own right, but also to realise that Australia can produce some great metal bands who can proudly stand side-by-side with bands from Europe and America. Like their fan site says; Black Majesty are indeed the melodic metal masters.

Originally reviewed for www.themetalforge.com & www.metalcdratings.com

Black Majesty is a band underscored by a tenacious sense of constancy and consistency. Despite 8 years of catering to the same audience of old school loving new school outcasts, their evolution in sound is comparable to the ebb and flow of a river rapid; always flowing strongly, despite the occasional boulder crowding the path. In many respects, their sound could be categorized as somewhere in the midst of what Iron Maiden would have been if they’d taken a more conservative route after “Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son”, and what Judas Priest, Queensryche and several other faster bands if they’d maintained the melodic contours of their 80s material and avoided the corruptive, mainstream elements of both the glam scene and the later emerging 90s alternative era.

“In Your Honour”, the fourth full length endeavor of this highly orthodox outfit, is marked by a somewhat stronger continuation of this heralded tradition of catchy melodies, high soaring vocals and a balanced blend of technique and simplicity that was very well present on “Tomorrowland”. From its nose tip to its tail, it invokes that magical image of elaborate stage sets amidst crowds of enraptured metal heads in the live venue, not all that removed from what might have been seen at the height of heavy metal in the mid 80s. One has to wonder why this band has yet to offer up a live release, particularly on DVD, given their established status and consistent label support. But regardless, the level of energy present is on par with the euphoria inspiring charge packed into the glory days that gave us “Screaming For Vengeance” and “Powerslave”.

Though enough can’t be said about the charming yet predictable format at work here, there is a subtle yet noticeable push underneath the hard pounding guitars and inspiring lyrics that gives this an edge over some of this band’s previous works. The usage of vocal melody is a good bit more balanced with the instrumentation, a slight change from “Tomorrowland” which was showcased Gio dominating the mix with his Geoff Tate inspired vocal acrobatics, but also takes a straightforward song by song approach that is a departure from the first two albums and somewhat closer to said 3rd album. The songs are instantly welcoming and utterly unforgettable, conjuring up memories of how catchy, pioneering efforts in speed metal like “Kill The King” and “Warrior” demanded their influential status, as well as those magical feats of haunting atmosphere and lyrical intrigue such as “Queen Of The Reich” and “We Rock”.

There’s something of a cliché that says to pick your poison, presenting a situation where you get a similar outcome, and with a simple change of words from poison to magic potion, the saying fits here. With an arsenal of heavily memorable, fast paced power metal that would make Helloween proud, songs such as “Far Beyond”, “Millennium” and “Wish You Well”, the average rank and file of this genre will have plenty of new classics to choose as their personal favorites. High flying solos that would make Tipton and Downing proud, a keyboard presence that hearkens back to the atmospheric charm of “Somewhere In Time”, and a consistent blaze of speed based metal that is rarely seen in today’s modern, AOR oriented offshoot of power metal (minus the slower, yet still powerful ballad “Break These Chains”) are all in place and ready to conquer any disenfranchised power metal maniacs who are starved for the music that made the late 90s and the early 2000s our heyday.

Edging out the lion’s share of the competition yet again, Black Majesty have delivered a true competitor amongst the upper tier of 2010 releases. “In Your Honour” can be seen as a tribute album, not so much to any particular band, but to an entire subculture of heavy metal that prides itself on being too hard for most, yet still very distant from the outer fringes of metal’s darkest fringes. It’s the sort of album that makes a person raise his fist in the air out of a sense of victory rather than out of anger or frustration, though it isn’t quite as “in your face” as one of Manowar’s odes of warrior triumph. If you yearn for the days of old, but with a fresh new face and production, pick up that sword you wayward knights and start marching to these majestic anthems.

Originally submitted to (www.metal-observer.com) on August 13, 2010.

While I might have been a bit harsh on Black Majesty’s previous album Tomorrowland, there’s no denying that it wasn’t the strongest third album a band could put out. Being that it had been so long since we had any new material from this group of Australian power metallers, I didn’t know what to expect when I put it on the first time to go work out…

Boom! I was hit by a flying melody, so deft and dense in its rich texture that I was knocked off my feet. What was that? Was it really the opening barrage of melody and power that is “Far Beyond,” the first song on In Your Honour? I could hardly believe my ears. It was faster than anything Black Majesty had ever put out, and more entwined with an almost Kamelot-esque complexity to boot. The solos screamed, the guitars crunched and the vocals soared higher than they ever had. Truly, this was a band at their most inspired. And the first part of the album is just a teaser, really – an exercise of their power. “Gods of War” rocks out with a catchy chorus and some of the slightly progressive flourishes that color many tracks here, and then the heavy, morose “Break These Chains” drops the mood a bit, but is still a really good song.

But then it really gets good. The whole last half of this album in general is stunningly good, a thrill ride of epic proportions that I do not see how anyone could turn down once they hear it once. On their early albums, you could hear this kind of potential in them, but here it just explodes, with more speed and intensity than ever. Every song is short and compact enough to be played on the go, but also emotionally complex and vital sounding than their past works. Every note sounds like they think it might be the last one they’ll ever play. It’s like they crammed in enough material for any of their previous albums into shorter templates; it’s just insane. And headbang-worthy, too, with the kinetic drum work and melodious riffage winding into a veritable hurricane of heavy metal power. What a trip! Some of the more ear-catching moments are in album standouts like the neck-breaking speed of “Further than Insane,” the melodic chugging stomp of “End of Time” and the old school riff-fest closer “Witching Hour.” Kick ass.

Gio Cavaliere on the vocals is just great, with his accented voice going from a soft Roy Khan-ish croon to a high-flying wail that is as idiosyncratic and identifiable as a Power Metal voice gets – you will know a Black Majesty song when you hear one. It’s just the way he sings his lines, the emphasis on certain words, and of course that weird lilt he has to his voice that makes it sound like he has a lisp or something – in the best of ways, I assure you. Some of the best moments here are when the band breaks the frenetic riffing and soloing for a more anthemic, epic chorus section – with some of the best being the one-two punch of the soaring “Wish You Well,” which is one of my personal favorites on here, and the most progressive track in “Follow,” with its pounding rhythms and huge chorus breaking down walls of complexity and delivering one hell of a song.

So really, everything about In Your Honour is great. The vocals are great, the instrumentation soars, weaves and dives through the boundaries of metal songwriting to create an album that is accessible but still reveals new things every time you listen. Frankly, this is the best album Black Majesty have put out so far, and I still think they can get better. I don’t know whose honor the band is defending so valiantly, but they’ve done a smashing job of it anyway.

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