Plague-House Puppet Show

This album doesn't quite hit the mark the way 'Delirium Veil' did, but then again, that's an awfully high standard it's up against. Twilightning are often compared to Europe (the band) whenever their 80's rock influences are brought up, and one way of describing this follow-up is that it's to 'Delirium Veil' what 'Out of This World' is to 'The Final Countdown'. It's softer, more poppy, more keyboard-based, less metal and, to the album's detriment, more shallow and less consistent in quality. Regardless, those who enjoyed the debut's hard rock leanings are encouraged to give this one a try.

Something needs to be said about the first two songs; holy SHIT do these bring the goods. They surpass anything on 'Delirium Veil', they're that good. First, the title track's high-octane, double-bass rock-the-fuck-out drive and absolutely sublime intro to kick off the song, bringing to mind the finest guitar work of Hibria. Next, the 80's synthesizer cheese is cranked right up to 11 for "Into Treason". We're talking Autograph levels here and Gods, what a gorgeous keyboard melody/guitar riff combo we have on our hands. This, with Heikki Pöyhiä giving 110% on top of it: THE PRICE FOR FREEDOM! STILL THERE'S NO REASON!!!" Glorious, amazing, mindblowing, hot damn I simply can not get enough of these songs. I'm just ranting at this point, but seriously, it's like the band somehow figured out how to hit as many of my soft spots as possible. Cheesy 80's synths, double bass, shrieky vocals, cool guitar licks, all beautifully woven together and arranged down to the last bloody detail to be to my liking, or so it would seem. Thanks, Twilightning, for penning these songs, they really do rule my world.

So, two complete smokers, and eight songs that check in with "solid" status. Not bad all things considered. Finnish power metal with a slice of 80's cheese sound like a good plan? 'Plague-House Puppet Show' is what you need in your life, after having checked out the debut first. Just be sure to stay away from the hideous third album (that I will not be reviewing; just thinking about it is pain enough) and you're good.

The recent concept of mixing the sound of late 90s power metal with 80s rock influences has turned out some rather lesser music than what was heard before it started. In general this music is different in that it tends to towards a looser arrangement, dueling rhythm guitar riffs and grooves, more atmospheric emphasis with the keyboards, and a much dirtier vocal approach. Twilightning’s debut exhibited some of the traits of this sound, particularly the guitar riffs and the vocal performance, but was much closer to the tight and fast mode of power metal more suited to late 90s Stratovarius and Sonata Arctica. By contrast, “Plague House Puppet Show” wanders a bit closer to “Hellfire Club” territory.

Be this as it may, Twilightning proves to be slightly more up to the task of making this mixture of rock and metal sound powerful than Edguy has been. Although some have come to associate this with a sharp decline in the band’s sound, the principle difference between this release and the debut is a reduction in tempo. The album’s title sounds like it was inspired by a series of Alice Cooper listening sessions, which seems a far cry from the socially aware and woeful lyrics of the debut, though there are still a few songs with similar subjects to be found on here. Given the year, changes like these were happening to many established acts, so a case could be made that this idea was a reaction to what others were doing, most likely Edguy. While the changes in the music do fit the imagery, they also result in an inferior creation to the original.

There isn’t really anything on here that is overtly offensive to the ears, everything is catchy and good overall, but almost all of these songs avoid really kicking ass the way the entire debut did. There is a large amount of studio effects, guitar riff interchanges and even a general up beat vibe to everything, but as a whole everything kind of sounds the same. “Into Treason” is pretty keyboard heavy, but has a solid chorus and is one of the stand outs. “Fever Pitch” is the closest to the triumphant speed metal that dominated the first album, but it takes a little time to get going. The album’s true highlight “Diamonds of Mankind” is the only song on here that I think measures up completely to the “Delirium Veil” standard. It has a lot of ballad qualities to it, but when that chorus and main riff kick in; the song goes from a decent rehash of “Under Somber Skies” to an all-out melodic glory ride.

I can give this album a fairly strong recommendation to power metal fans, particularly people who like it a bit slowed down and more rock oriented. If you liked the debut, I’d give you about 50/50 on liking this one, depending heavily on whether you were completely revolted by Edguy’s new sound or not. The band aren’t quite taking themselves as seriously of late as they should, but this album is still well within the spectrum of respectable power metal, which is a lot more than I can say for what they just pumped out recently. Even still, I’d look for this at a slightly reduced price; $10 would be about right for a mostly solid album with 3 exceptional songs.

I'm known for being fairly tolerant of cheese and goofiness, as Edguy have always been a favorite of mine, and I can tolerate most of Helloween's goofiness. Iron Fire even have a few songs I really enjoyed. But some things just really disgust me beyond words, and this band is one of them. Twilightning are basically a Sonata Arctica cover band trying to sound like Bon Jovi or Europe with the odd Children of Bodom solo thrown in for good measure, and this was their sophomore effort, and they were already starting to go down the wrong road. And they were even kind enough to warn the buyers beforehand of what lay beneath the surface. Plague House Puppet Show? What? Who names their album that? Not even most of the 80s glam bands were so crude and ridiculous. The puzzling cover art is an accurate representation of what you'll find inside, too---exceedingly fruity music that will make you want to turn on something else.

I used to call myself a fan of this band, and now I must ask myself, why? What was so alluring about the awful vocals, the sugary, synthetic guitar lines and mechanical drum rhythms, and the absurd stupidity of a band that would dare name a song "Lubricious Thoughts"? I'm glad I see clearly now---Twilightning are an embarassment to anyone who ever called themselves a fan of Euro power metal. The sad thing is that they're actually talented songwriters. They just choose to focus their energy and time on creating such daft and unimpressive renditions of old 80s hasbeen hair rock songs, and that's a tragedy.

The vocals of Heikki Poyhia must be called to attention here, because they are terrible. It sounds kind of like Bon Jovi with a Finnish accent doing his best Tobias Sammet impression, and that is certainly not something the world needs. He doesn't even manage to sound tough or powerful for most of the record, reminding me of a little dog tied to a tree stump, trying to sound fearsome and foreboding, but just making a lot of annoying noise that nobody wants to hear. While his voice on the debut was actually very good, here he doesn't make any such pretensions---just taking the approach of a standard 80s glam rock singer and making it even more infuriating and aggrivating. He goes through the same 3 or 4 vocal lines for every single chorus here, to the point where I can barely tell them apart. I actually don't think I'd hate this band so much if they had a less annoying vocalist, but there's a nagging voice in my head that tells me this is not so.

The guitarists are obviously talented, and you wonder what they're doing playing shit like this. Some of their solos on the debut rivaled output by Pagan's Mind or Lost Horizon, and while the solos here aren't quite that good, they're still satisfying overall. Too bad they're often buried beneath a sea of chuggy, sloppy riffs and keyboard masturbation that turns the song into faceless mush. I hear definite shades of the abomination the band would become a few years down the line here, and that is not good at all.

There aren't really any standout tracks here, but at least there are none that make me want to bash my brains in, as there were on the eigth world wonder, the band's third effort Swinelords. The songs here are energetic and jumpy like most Finnish power metal, but they're just not very good, to be blunt. None of them really do anything for me at all, just serving as really annoying background music. All of them have very prominent overtones of butt rock, what with those atrocious vocal lines layered over the smarmy, suckalicious guitar riffs and synth sounds, and eventually they all start to blend together and sound alike, with each one being equally banal. Okay, so "The Fiend" and "Painting the Blue Eyes" are listenable and a bit fun the first few times, but still, that's only 2 out of about 10 songs.

Twilightning is naught but a novelty act---their popularity will eventually fade, for this style of music was already out of style and had been for 20 years when this band unleashed their aural equivalent of vomit onto the Earth. Everything they're doing now has already been done by either Sonata Arctica or Europe, and you can just go pick up the former's Silence if you want a representation of how this kind of thing can be good. But Twilightning are shot, and this album is a huge step down from the debut---and, fuck, this isn't even a sellout album, it's just really terrible in every possible way. Avoid like bird flu!

Initially things don’t start out too well for this band. First impressions for me went something like this: Terrible name, terrible cover art, terrible album title, and terrible band? The first three descriptions I quite comfortable with – their name is truly awful, their cover choice is abysmal and the album title is almost as convoluted as their name. Fortunately for the band, I can’t bestow upon them the last one. As much as the earlier misdemeanors might suggest they deserve it, Twilightning are not the worst you’ll hear this year.

Formed in 1998 in Imatra Finland, Twilightning’s original line-up consisted of four members: Tommi Sartanen (grr/vrr), Ville Wallenius (grr), Jussi Kainulainen (brr) and Juha Leskinen (drr). 2001 brought a major coup for the band as Heikki Pöyhiä was added to line-up as a lead singer. ‘Plague-House…’ is their second album and highlights the band strong emphasis on the ubiquitous EURO power metal sound. Yet, despite the generic style that the description implies, there are some subtle differences with Twilightning.

The most important difference is their traditional/80’s hard rock/metal vibe they embrace throughout this entire disc. Be certain, they don’t do anywhere near enough of it, but the classic feel of melodic metal bands like TNT and Bonfire are instantly identifiable. Add a the more modern metal crunch of Children of Bodom, Angel Dust and the good power metal half of Sonata Arctica and you’ll start to get an idea of where Twilightning are coming from.

‘Plague House..’ is a wickedly melodic metal album. The happy power metal vibe is abound, but nowhere near as overdone as Sonata Arctica might attempt - it’s more riff inspired with tasty lead work that recall the 80’s gone by, plus some decidedly catchy chorus work. Backed by a killer and most typical Finnish production (I’m guessing Finnvox?) and there is much to like. I’m even partial to the variation they employ via a couple of power ballads that don’t sound quite as cheesy as they might suggest. Overall, this is a much more impressive album that I thought it would be. It has some truly catchy melodic metal moments on it. Longevity wise, it probably doesn’t have the legs for a near on 50 minute album, but nevertheless most fans of crunchy melodic metal will find plenty to enjoy.