Holy War (The Dragonland Chronicles Part II)

Some years ago I read a very positive review about Dragonland’s latest album Astronomy. Intrigued by review and album name, I bought the album and liked it. A very important factor in my appreciation lay in the fact that the lyrics were not “standard” power metal lyrics: dragons, heroes, villains, … The music itself was very power metal, with high pitched vocals, keyboards and stuff. And then I bought Holy War. Of course, with titles such as Through Elven Woods and Dwarven Mines one can only expect a fantasty based album. To stand out between the several fantasy power metal bands, the music would need to have that little bit of extra awesome. And this album has it.

A Hundred Years Have Passed is the opener. It is a two minute intro, with lots and lots of keyboards and a little touch of the guitar. Keyboard intros to concept albums, it isn’t unique anymore. Good intro’s however are. This intro is one of those rare cases. Sometimes I skip intros, I never skip this one. The keyboards are so epic. The many layers, the bombast they put in it. It makes me nearly drool. It’s an intro that’s alive, that moves and changes. Dragonland know how to use the synths. They use them without overdose, but enough to add that special epic feeling to the music that guitars and drums somehow lack. My favourite example of this is the intro to Holy War. The sound of an organ, with it’s fast notes and gothic feel. I use the word gothic here as in the style of buildings and churches: grand, medieval, overwhelming, and yet cold and seemingly heartless. As is any war. Add to that the drums with their rapid hits, and fast guitar riffs. That’s it, you get an image of troops in combat, where the tides of battle , the ebb and flow combine both feelings of victory and defeat.

Jonas Heidgert’s vocal performance on Astronomy is one of the better in the genre. He controls his voice, changing easily between higher and lower notes. His voice is solid: whatever he sings, he does so with conviction. On Holy War, his voice is a tad less solid, but still solid enough to keep the attention to it. Although… Forever Walking Alone is a ballad. And I’m not a ballad lover. So maybe I’m biased, but this song is one I like to skip. Heidgert tries to sing about love and loss. Pretty emotional stuff. But no, here he fails. During the first part of the song he puts too much in his voice, it does not sound sincere. More like a mockery. The second part of that song is way better. With the company of distorted guitars and drums, his voice is way better. But then again, I may be biased.

The guitars and the drums work very well together in creating a pounding sound: the awesome feeling of an army marching of to war. During most of the songs the tempo is high, except for the aforementioned ballad and the song Calm Before the Storm. The other songs are for the bigger part fast, so that the album itself may be regarded as a solid high speed power metal album with good vocals.

This is a good power metal album, where keyboards are used and add to the music without flooding it. I recommend this one for lovers of the genre!

Man, I feel like I just had a fistful of cheddar cheese stuffed down my throat. After an overlong intro which takes you through a time warp, colors swirling 'round your head, you're immediately dropped into the world of Dragonland, with furiously intricate guitar melodies and keys slamming into you like pro wrestlers on crack, double bass drums beating and pounding as fast as a dragon's wings in the wind, and with Jonas Heidgert's charismatic saccharine-sweet wail narrating the whole journey. With a meatier guitar tone than their obvious influences in Rhapsody, Dragonland storm forth with their sophomore effort of fluffy sympho-Power Metal, middle finger defiantly in the face of all those who mock such "cheesy, gay pussy Metal."

This is very, very energetic and enthusiastic stuff, and going back to it for this review, I was surprised at how damn good it sounded, even in the face of the band's stunning progression as of late. Jonas Heidgert deserves another mention, for he stands out as quite a good vocalist here, and he really doesn't sound like anyone else on the planet. Very unique tone and delivery. The songwriting is spot on, with a lot of really great tunes like "The Majesty of Mithrill Mountains" and "Through Elven Woods and Dwarven Mines" knocking your teeth out with crystalline synths and riveting guitar lines that seem to set the world ablaze (fuck, just listen to the first few seconds of the former for proof!), and every musician here is playing at his finest level. They can even slow down for a more midpaced, epic groove, as shown on the great "Calm Before the Storm," and here you can also see the brilliant, colorful progressive maelstrom that they would soon become.

Dragonland have created an agreeable and extremely enjoyable Power Metal album here, overflowing with pomp, pride and of course a healthy helping of the cheddar stuff. They are completely shameless about their high fantasy stylings, and I like that, gives the music a very authentic, youthful feeling that a lot of bands miss out on these days. Get this if you're a fan of this sort of music, and even if you aren't, you might still be able to find something of interest here - Dragonland do this better than most bands of their ilk.

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

This is what I would call the stereotypical Power Metal band. Fantasy-based lyrics, loads of keyboard sounds, soaring vocals and an overwhelming dependence on the "galloping" rhythm style combine to make a band that oozes fruity Power Metal from every pore. It's not bad; in fact, it has some pretty good moments. Unfortunately, there's not enough here to set it apart from the masses.

Still, there is some solid stuff on here. An overwhelmingly synthetic introduction leads into Hundred Years Have Passed, where the guitars take a backseat to the keyboards in the beginning, but come forward a bit when the vocals emerge. The title track has another big keyboard solo in the beginning, but the vocals are pretty good here in comparison to most of the other songs on here. There isn't much in the way of guitar solos here (especially in comparison to the approximately 434,234,235 keyboard solos), and when they do have some time to shine they don't really stand out that often, with the notable exception of Calm Before the Storm which also has \m/ a violin solo \m/ and a pretty strong beat.

Speaking of beat, rarely does a band take Iron Maiden's galloping rhythm as much to heart as this band. Through Elven Woods and Dwarven Mines, The Return to the Ivory Plains, A Thousand Points of Light and The Neverending Story all feature the galloping rhythm, either in part or completely. It's a cool rhythm, but it tends to suck when used too much. The rhythm variety in general is not too hot in this album, and the time signature is almost always in 3/4. As a result, many of the songs tend to blur and sound the same, which is not good. It isn't one big song like De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas, but we're not exactly talking Liquid Tension Experiment, either.

So, if you're a Power Metal fanatic, you'll probably like this one. If you're not, chances are you won't be that impressed. Simple, huh?