Broken History

I'm not sure what prompted the seventeen year gap between this album and the bands' first- something of a third tier classic in the prog scene from what I've witnessed others say- but they did eventually come back with 'Broken History,' a pretty solid slab of Euro power that I can't bring myself to dislike, much as I may want to. It's definitely overlong, kind of pretentious, really cheesy, and definitely not always exciting, but at the same time, I appreciate the sheer ambition and clear love that went into making this giant, unwieldy brick of an album.

Adramelch still sounds pretty firmly set in the '80s musically- despite the seventeen year gap, they haven't updated their musical ideals much beyond improved technical ability and production quality. Adramelch plays a sort of primordial style of power/traditional metal with the barest traces of prog on some of the slower, more open tracks- the uptempo sections remind me of the oldest couple Blind Guardian albums, but in reality these guys are probably more into Fates Warning, Iron Maiden and the like more than anything more modern in inspiration. The galloping rhythms and perpetually harmonizing leads are total 'Powerslave' throwbacks, but the vocals are a more decisively pure Euro power style- strong, melodramatic, and surprisingly well executed for what they are. The prog influences are really pretty subtle and relegated to small parts of the album; 'Beloved Jerusalem' probably has the most obvious ones, with its keening, bubbling basswork and heavily orchestrated guitar interactions. Surprisingly enough, it's pretty tolerable despite how over the top it is.

Of course it verges on unbearably cheesy a lot of the time- the synthesized pan flutes buried in the background of 'Heap of Bones' are pretty inexcusable, as are the majority of the slow tracks, which remind me of Kamelot's most cringe-inducing moments most of the time. Still, Adramelch makes it easy enough to suspend my disbelief most of the time. The central thing Adramelch does that so many other bands in this overambitious power metal style forget is to actually write riffs- good, solid, aggressive, memorable ones from the Iron Maiden style, with just a hint of thrash or speed metal to them. Too many other power metal bands are content just pretending that their rock chord structures are riffs or mindlessly holding down the root notes for the synths to dance over, but Adramelch makes guitars the central focus of the album, and it's massively to its benefit.

I do have my issues with it- like nearly every album over 45 minutes, it doesn't have THAT many good ideas to sustain it, and a couple of the middle tracks could be cut out without too much trouble. On top of that, the sheer bombast and complexity of the style makes it a sort of rarefied album to begin with, so I can't listen to this too often without getting a headache. Still, I'll give the guys credit for writing something like this in 2005, and they definitely did good. Recommend for you power metal people out there, if you're not too busy beating off to Crystal Viper or something.

Adramelch – Broken History

After a 17 year break after their brilliant album Irae Melanox, Adramelch come back in full force with their brilliant songwriting, riffs, and vocals. This album is less progressive in a sense than Irae Melanox, yet definitely a fucking brilliant album. In this album, the production is much better and the riffs are easily heard and still crush you.

The band plays more of a heavy/epic metal style now, which means shorter song; however, the band has not lost any of their epic-ness. So what’s so good about this album? The fucking riffs annihilate you, continually. The dual guitars and bass interweave with harmonies and just insanely complex dual melodies. At times, while listening to the album, I just sit there in complete awe on how absolutely stunning the melodies are put together. I feel this way because the band doesn’t take the traditional approach of a riff then playing a nice melody overtop (like Iron Maiden), but they are both playing leads that cumulate with tension and epic-ness. The only band that can rival this dual guitar brilliance is Psychotic Waltz.

As with their previous album, there is a constant medieval theme with a feeling of a hatred of the one in power. This is perfectly suitable for an epic metal album.

Although the album has great songwriting, great riffs, and great vocals, I find myself going back to Irae Melanox more than this one, mainly because of the slight progressive elements which I enjoy more; however if you love epic metal and face melting riffs, this album is for you.