Wish for Destruction

This album is quite a solid release from 2002 that, for some reason either goes unnoticed or is underrated.

The style of this album is a heavier, more aggressive, form of speed/power metal, with the the closest comparison being Blind Guardian's first two albums or maybe some of Gamma Ray -- though it's not derivative of either. The riffs alternate between fast-played and distorted/detuned and melodic, keyboards are, for the most part, tastefully used, and fast, the drums are usually pummelling, and the singing ranges in its harshness, but is never either flowery or drano-bleached/cookie-monster brutal. It also has a theme to it, of creating a large army of replicants to seize control of the world, which is pretty cool, as well.

Creation - A bizarre introduction with a heavy bass noise, followed by a pretty "la la la la" from Sidhe and some kind of techno stuff with some deep "I am Creation" in a distorted voice. After this, I did not know what the hell to expect from this album.

Wish for Destruction - Coming in from creation, it picks up very fast, with a detuned but fast-played riff that would make it sound pretty damn heavy if it didn't have high notes from the keyboard playing along. Patrick Wire is a harsh sounding vocalist -- no growls or anything, but just angry sounding, almost like Hansi Kursch, but a little angrier. The riffs and drumming speed up, sounding like a deeper, heavier version of speed or power metal, while female vocalist Leanan Sidhe (the name is based on a Celtic legend) begins singing in her well-trained -- not exactly angelic, but nice -- voice that has its cute little touches here and there. Afterwards, it slows down, but speeds up again and breaks into a raging, 45 second solo that I thought was pretty good.

7even - wasn't this a movie? However, the lyrics for this continue the album's story of armies of clones set to take over the world. This song has some solid riffs, tasteful use of keyboards, and a good, catchy chorus of "You've come to serve our will..." The singing is intentionally imperfect but well done, for a good effect. One of my favorites on the album.

World Leaders - The first two-minutes of this song seem to be an introduction, with good use of melodic guitars alternating with piano plyaing. The main riff of the song sounds is quite heavy, but a bit too simple sounding -- perhaps that it the way to describe it -- for my likes. The singing is well done, melodic guitars are used, and the keyboard is faded far into the background. The solo is pretty good, as well.

Beyond Science -- Crushing, heavy thrash-style riffs begin this song, and the singing is closer to drowned-out, distorted screaming. It slows down a bit, digressing to clean vocals from Sidhe and Wire, describing a mad science experiment. At around 1:40, it includes some Rhapsody style singing, and goes back into thrash mode again. The last minute of the song winds down with an instrumental, beginning with pianos and ending in a mid-speed guitar solo.

Bleeding Town -- This song sounds a lot like a Grim Reaper song for some reason -- maybe Lust for Freedom? -- but perhaps that's just me. I couldn't track it down, and it might just be something to do with the style. The song mostly focuses on singing, with long-held notes, accompanied by pummelling drums, and is pretty average.

Here Comes the Fire -- This has a fast tempo with the double-bass drums and singing, but the guitars are mostly swept and set to fade out, rather than quickly strummed. The chorus of "Here comes the fire, the end is near," lingers in the head, and is pretty cool, making you want to listen to it twice. The song breaks down into a solo -- not amazing, but pretty good -- and then returns into the pretty singing and the harsh but not brutal singing.

Deadlock -- Slow, brief bass instrumental that I swear I heard either in Castlevania or a Death song. This

Failure 617 - Aaah! This one has an annoying beginning that always makes me skip 15 seconds ahead, and is the only thing I edited out on my backup copy. It goes into a pretty solid and well-done song, with some nice quasi-melodic riffs, save for the cheesy sound effects thrown in along with the singing over double bass pummelling. In the middle of this is a pretty piano piece. The end with the sqealing and pick-rubbing-against-the-string effect is also annoying, but not nearly as bad.

Ultimate Elimination - This one begins, after a quiet intro, with a solo with a strange, flanger-like distortion on it. The vocals are well sung in this, melodic riffs that sound vaguely familiar, like Ninja Gaiden or something interspere inbetween, but this is a lot more power-metal sounding than thrashy with the use of the drums and guitar -- for the most part. The solo at the end is jazzy in nature, made moreso sounding with the use of the organ sound on the keyboards.

I happen to like the style and sound of this album quite a bit, and find it to be a mixture of well-balanced contrasts, without going overboard into growls or high-pitched opera vocals, though I know some people won't. All of the songs on the album are pretty good -- though not phenomenal -- and the only part I don't like is the beginning to Failure 617.