adg211288 Shakespeare's MacBeth - A Tragedy in Steel (herein referred to as just ‘MacBeth’) is the debut album from German Power Metal band Rebellion which was released in 2002. As I’m sure you can deduce from the name it’s a metal adaptation of Shakespeare’s classic MacBeth. For me at least this is the only way I can tolerate Shakespeare. The band, for those unaware, was formed by ex-Grave Digger members Uwe Lulis (guitar) and Tomi Göttlich (bass).

Speaking as someone familiar with the band’s entire discography to date, MacBeth does stand as their weakest album. The album is difficult to get into due to the presence of a lot of narration, which instead of appearing in a bunch of transitional tracks often turns up within the actual songs, which ruins the impact that those songs can have, which is a shame because although Rebellion would go on to write much more powerful material, when they get going the album is generally strong in its own right, although Rebellion would go on to write much more coherent albums. The sound here I would described as Theatrical Power Metal, and I’m confident in my belief that depending on your disposition to theatre (and Shakespeare in particular), that the theatrics will be a make a break thing for you as far as this album is concerned.

Since I’m a major fan of these guys, I can honestly say that I enjoy this album much more than I think a newcomer to the band will. I cannot in any way recommend this as a starting point for this great band, in fact I will always have MacBeth down as the album to come to last. Any of the four following full-lengths will serve much better as an introduction, because here we have what is best described as a band still finding their sound. The album still has many praiseworthy attributes though, and just because the album is difficult, it doesn’t mean that it isn’t unrewarding for those with a bit of perseverance.

The vocals of singer Michael Seifert (Black Destiny, Xiron, Wolfchant) are, as always, a particular treat as he’s one of a handful of singers in a European power metal band that I know that has a rougher aggressive edge to his voice. I know I draw this comparison way too often to the point that I must sound like a broken record but if you imagine the vocals of Matt Barlow (ex-Iced Earth, ex-Pyramaze) and then add an extra layer of metal aggression then Michael Seifert is what you get. Needless to say this, backed by the heavy guitars and the fact that the band does not rely on keyboards in their power metal sound, makes Rebellion in my mind one power metal act from Europe that I feel will appeal more to USPM fans.

I do enjoy MacBeth a lot despite the negative moments I felt I had to put into this review. But even as a fan of the band it took me several listens to really get into it. The narration, while understandably needed for the concept, is generally a hindrance to enjoying otherwise awesome songs such as the thirteen minute beast Husbandry in Heaven. It nearly always comes as a kick in the teeth just when the songs seem to be getting epic. In general as well this album does feature the weaker Rebellion material, though that’s understandable since this is their debut. The best song would have to be the early Disdaining Fortune.

This is one case where I have to be honest, the score I give it is going to be different based on whether I rate the album from an objective or subjective point of view. Personally despite some quibbles I do think the album is solid enough to warrant a score of around 8/10, but objectively that seems too high and a 6/10 would be more appropriate so I’m going to the next best thing and go straight down the middle of those two. This is a shaky but decent enough first offering, but it is generally avoidable for anyone but the band’s biggest fans like myself.

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven, scoring 7.0/10)

adg211288 The Clans Are Marching is the first EP release by German Power Metal band Rebellion. It was released in 2009 about a month before the group’s fifth album, Arise: From Ginnungagap to Ragnarök - The History of the Vikings Volume III and out of the four tracks on the release, fifty percent is also on the album.

The title track here is actually a Grave Digger cover. For people unaware Rebellion members Uwe Lulis and Tomi Göttlich used to be in Grave Digger are actually wrote this song, so although it is a cover, it is, in its own way, very much a Rebellion song and vocalist Michael Seifert really makes it his own in this new version. I actually prefer this to the original, but that may just be my status as a Rebellion fanboy coming through there.

Next we get the two songs from the Arise album, the first being that album’s title track. It’s a good choice to include here to promote that album, which I consider to be a metal masterpiece. Also presented here is the song Ragnarök I (often credited just as Ragnarök on many online resources), which is not actually the same song called Ragnarök as on the Arise album, but rather the song Prelude. Another good choice for promotion of the then forthcoming album, but that album is out now, which unfortunately leaves this EP with a lack of material that can’t be found elsewhere.

Fortunately there is another non-album track in the form of My Blood in the Snow. This is a slower paced affair than much of the Arise album but would have worked well with the songs presented there.

Overall the material on offer here deserves the highest of scores, but as I stated above, the album that followed this is out now and leaves The Clans Are Marching effectively a two song offering. There’s also a live video of The Clans Are Marching on offer, but although the sound quality is good the filming is all from the side of the stage and you don’t get a great view of the live performance. I’m going to rate this EP based on the quality of the music, but I think that at the end of the day this is a release for diehard fans only.

(Review originally written for Heavy Metal Haven)

adg211288 Arise: From Ginnungagap to Ragnarök - The History of the Vikings Volume III (henceforth referred to as just ‘Arise’) is the fifth full-length album by German power metal band Rebellion, and the third and final part of their trilogy on concept albums about the Vikings. Lyrically this one deals with, as the title suggests, Viking legend from Ginnungagap (meaning ‘yawning abyss’ and referring to Norse mythology’s belief of a vast primordial void that existed prior to the current universe) to Ragnarök (The final destiny of the Norse Gods). But enough of the Norse mythology lesson, you want to know about the music right?

There is a noticeable difference in Rebellion’s sound on this album, it’s still power metal and it still sounds very much like the band that made their previous albums, it sounds much more aggressive in its delivery, especially in Michael Seifert’s vocals. While Seifert is actually very capable of being a melodic singer his singing style has always had a somewhat rougher tone to it which sets him apart from many other power metal vocalists to me, but here he’s taken things up a notch even from their previous album Miklagard. The results work really well, especially because he doesn’t sing this extremely all the way through the album. When I say his vocals are rougher I don’t mean he’s doing growls either, but neither can it generally be referred to as clean singing. If there is such a thing as extreme power metal then this is it. The music behind the vocals has some tendencies to be heavier on some of the tracks than on previous releases, though it’s still melodic, which is what in a way still makes Arise a power metal album, because with it being on the extreme end of power metal this could perhaps be seen as Rebellion going in a more thrash or speed metal direction.

Highlights from this collection of twelve songs starting appearing right from the off with the excellent War, which is followed by the slightly slower Arise, which features a nice piano intro, fantastic lyrics and some nice vocal variety from Seifert. These two songs set the standard for what is an absolutely excellent album – great songs, awesome vocals and extremely solid musicianship from Uwe Lulis (guitar), Simone Wenzel (guitar), Tomi Göttlich (bass) and Gerd Lücking (drums). In my opinion Arise is easily Rebellion’s second best release, since overall I prefer the previous album, Miklagard to this one but both are easily worth recognition of pure masterpieces of power metal. There is no bad moment on Arise and each track can be considered a highlight in its own right, from the more extreme types such as Asgard and Bolverk to the more melodic such as Runes or the two more lengthy tracks Thor and Einherjar. Really great stuff.

Because this isn’t your typical power metal album, fans of the genre who are into more melodic keyboard driven or symphonic power metal bands may not find Arise or the band in general to their liking. Fans of the more guitar driven US styled power metal should lap this one up though, as should metal fans with a wide range of tastes. It is along with its predecessor Miklagard an album that every self-respecting metal fan owes it to themselves to at least check out.

(Review originally written for Heavy Metal Haven)

adg211288 Miklagard – The History of the Vikings – Volume II is, as the name suggests, the second part of a trilogy of concept albums. Overall it is the band’s fourth album. Despite being a European band (German), their power metal sound is much closer to what is commonly known as US styled power metal, much more guitar driven and no keyboardist in the band. Michael Seifert’s vocals are much rougher in their delivery than much power metal, so readers of this review can rest assured that this is no Dragonforce but something much more extreme. I’d go as far to say that power metal doesn’t get more extreme than this.

The album has an intro track, Vi seglar mot Miklagard, but it’s actually a proper song. Sung in Swedish, (title translation: We’re Sailing to Miklagard) and by a guest vocalist, Morgana Lefay’s Charles Rytkönen (who also wrote the lyrics), it is the album’s lightest moment, after this the album goes at speed for most of its length. The album’s concept follows a storyline, which I won’t go into detail here but it is basically a journey which begins in Sweden (also the name of the second track), and ends in Miklagard (modern day Istanbul), with each song detailing a chapter of the journey.

With an album such as Miklagard it is difficult to separate any highlights because the album is one of those records that says consistent throughout. There’s not a bad track on here and for those that are into this style of metal it’s not a difficult album to get into either. Best that I can do here is to name drop my personal favourites, but the other songs are just as good. My first highlight is On the Edge of Life. It’s one of the longest tracks on the album at six minutes, starting with some synth for the intro what makes this song great is the vocal delivery in the chorus, Michael sings more cleanly in it than he does in the verses and it’s even more epic when the gets to its bridge. Rebellion really knows how to do a great chorus and this is just one great example, the others songs do it just as well.

Other highlights for me include Kiew, and Taste of Steel. The latter especially, the aggression in the vocals portrays the song’s lyrics and mood perfectly. The Vikings are fighting, they’re going to ground your face in the mud and make you taste steel, and the band sounds like they mean it.

The title track Miklagard is one of few times on the album that Rebellion slow down their pace. The lead melody is pretty addictive as is the song in general. Overall it’s not a very varied album in terms of how the songs are delivered but this is okay, since this album is the sound of a band who know what they are doing. The vocals are some of the best I’ve heard in power metal (at times Seifert reminds me of a more aggressive Matt Barlow), and both guitarists Uwe Lulis and Simone Wenzel are clearly talented players with both of them doing rhythm and lead work on the album. Bassist Tomi Göttlich provides the majority of the lyrics which are all fantastic while Gerd Lücking rounds off the lineup with some top notch drumming and even throws in a guitar solo of his own in On the Edge of Life for good measure. And together they’ve made what I feel is Rebellion’s best album to date and certainly one of my favourite power metal albums. It fully deserves this score.

(Review originally written for Heavy Metal Haven)