adg211288 At the Expense of Humanity (2015) is the third full-length studio album by US power metal act Judicator. It's the first since they expanded from a duo to a full band line-up with standing members John Yelland (vocals) and Tony Cordisco (guitars, bass) joined by Tyler Sherrill (keyboards) and Jordan Elcess (drums) as well as a host of guest performers on the album. At the Expense of Humanity is a concept album based on John Yelland's brother who sadly died of cancer, so lyrically it marks a departure from the more historical based concepts heard on previous albums King of Rome (2012) and Sleepy Plessow (2013).

Musically At the Expense of Humanity further shows Judicator growing and changing as a band. Though the cover artwork looks to me like it would be more at home on a metalcore or deathcore release this is still a power metal record through and through. It's just a different beast to the band's previous two records. Where King of Rome showed off what was basically Blind Guardian worship (and there is nothing wrong with that!), with Sleepy Plessow Judicator's own identity began to shine through. Rather than honing what was done last time though with At the Expense of Humanity we get to hear something different again. I'd say that the group have delved further into a progressive influenced sound here while also further playing upon the accessible melodic power metal sensibilities. Even with the progressive elements in some ways this one feels like a more typical record for the power metal genre but the subject matter does set it apart from the crowd. It's the sort of album which may appeal to someone who likes the sound of power metal music but finds the more typically found fantasy themes a bit too much to stomach. People who listen to power metal for those themes though may find At the Expense of Humanity a bit too dark by contrast.

While it's undeniable that expanding to a full band was the right move for Judicator at this point, I can't help but feel that I enjoyed the last album Sleepy Plessow a little bit more, with the individual songs standing out better for me on that album. At the Expense of Humanity is the sort of album that works best as one long piece and while there's nothing inherently wrong with that I can see me being more likely to return to Sleepy Plessow over this one. This is still a good quality record from Judicator though, especially tracks like Autophagia and Lucid Nightmare come over as highlights and I genuinely like that Judicator has been able to work the power metal genre in different ways with each album they've done, but it's the very changing nature which does mean that not every record they do is going to find the same level of appeal with each listener. Others will no doubt think the opposite to me while others still will prefer King of Rome's power/speed metal attack. Still it's hard to deny that At the Expense of Humanity is a quality record though the subject matter means it lacks power metal's normal fun factor, which may be an obstacle to it finding acceptance from every quarter. The band have my utmost respect for not going by the book though. I'm going to go with 4 stars.

adg211288 Sleepy Plessow (2013) is the second full-length release by US power metal duo Judicator. As with all previous work by the group Sleepy Plessow is available for free download. The album follows hot on the heels of debut effort King of Rome (2012), with not even a full year between the two albums. Despite such a short time frame between releases, which also saw the group release two non-album singles, one of which was a German sung version of one of Sleepy Plessow’s tracks, things seem to have taken a bit of a different turn within the Judicator camp.

While I’m still happy to consider Sleepy Plessow a power metal album, it also draws on a lot of traditional heavy metal aspects. While King of Rome came across as unashamed Blind Guardian worship Sleepy Plessow sees Judicator developing more of their own sound, which involves a less speed obsessed approach to instrumentalist Tony C’s guitar riffs, which gives the album more variety, something which also comes out in progressive form in a few places with an increased complexity to the arrangement, which includes sections of spoken word to further the conceptual plot of the album (which deals with the story of Prussia, “leading up to and focusing on the life of Friedrich der Grosse (Frederick the Great)”) as well as light non-metal sections where the band can show off their extra melodic side.

The bigger change to Judicator is the vocal department. John Yelland remains the lead vocalist of the group but this time he is joined by Tony C on a couple of the early tracks. Tony uses the same sort of harsh vocals that can be heard in Sedulity, a progressive thrash metal band that he fronts. The use of additional singers is a standard of the album, and after Tony’s appearances John is joined by a total of eight others including Bryan Edwards (Vermiform, ex-Seven Kingdoms) who provided the harsh vocals on King of Rome. Other guests include some unknowns to the metal scene, but also there is Patrick Hoyt Parris (Project: Roenwolfe, Lascaille's Shroud) and Chad Anderson (Dead Revelator, guitars in Disforia), who also programmed the drums this time around. Growling is a lot more common on Sleepy Plessow than it was on King of Rome, especially for the genres of music that Judicator falls into, but it all works out rather well and shows off power metal’s most aggressive side.

King of Rome was a solid debut from Judicator, if a little unoriginal. While Sleepy Plessow doesn’t exactly reinvent the wheel either it’s clearly the work of a band who have come into their own, and in record time. It’s not an album that makes me say that it sounds like another band, as I could with King of Rome. Judicator have found more of their own identity and it’s really paid off for them, with the epic near twelve minute track Blut vom Himmel being both the best song of the album and the crowning achievement of the band so far. The quality of the music is continually high though and a few of the other tracks I'd like to give a mention to are The Elector, Release Me and The Philosopher King. An exceptional grade rating is deserved.

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven: http://metaltube.freeforums.org/judicator-sleepy-plessow-t3009.html)

adg211288 King of Rome is the debut album from US based power metal act Judicator. Judicator is a project between the duo of vocalist John Yelland (Disforia, ex-Shadowseer) and instrumentalist Tony C. (Project: Roenwolfe, Sedulity, Vermiform et al). King of Rome is a concept album centred on Napoleon Bonaparte. The album was released for free in 2012.

Stylistically Judicator draws extensively on the harder hitting typically German take on power metal from a time where the genre was still quite connected to its speed metal roots. Think Blind Guardian circa Tales from the Twilight World and you’ll be on the right track for the sort of riffs Tony C. is playing on this album. To give further weight to the comparison Judicator covers Blind Guardian’s Tommyknockers as a bonus track which originally appeared on the aforementioned album. We’re talking strictly guitar driven power metal with Judicator in other words.

While it’s hard not to think King of Rome is something of a Blind Guardian/early power metal worship session for the duo, unlike say Savage Circus, who sound like Blind Guardian both musically and vocally, in John Yelland Judicator have a great singer, who doesn’t sound like Blind Guardian’s Hansi Kürsch, which sets them apart. The band has also produced an album with a modern flair to it by including some death growling. The growling is performed by guest vocalist Bryan Edwards, whom power metal fans may be familiar with as the original vocalist of Seven Kingdoms. He’s also in the death metal band Vermiform with Judicator’s Tony C. His contributions are not overdone but used to give certain sections a bit of extra punch where required, possibly to tie in with the concept but don’t quote me on that belief since my attention was more focused on talking in the music than following the plot of the lyrics.

Judicator has shown that they clearly know what they’re doing when it comes to power metal. Riff driven power metal like this has always been the best kind of power metal for me. There’s none of the so called cheesy stuff to be found here, just killer riffs, great vocals, and overall very good songs. The album doesn’t ascend to being more than a solid example of the genre for me, with the best tracks being Rising Again, Into the Sea of Bayonets, and the 12:20 minute closing epic Elan. I have to say though that the bonus track cover of Tommyknockers left me with some mixed feelings, but at the end of the day only Blind Guardian can do Blind Guardian the way it should be, so I’m not so bothered if I don’t enjoy this cover so much, especially when Judicator’s own material is very satisfactory. A great album tier rating is deserved.

81/100

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven (http://metaltube.freeforums.org))