Time Signature Save us...

Genre: Euro power metal

Well aware that Reinxeed's music belongs to that branch of über cheesy Euro power metal that just does not sit well with me, I decided to give the latest album a change. After all, I was kind of positively surprised by "1912". However, this one is so cheesy that it definitely cannot be good for my cholesterol count. Still, there is something about it that I kind of like.

The main theme of the album is the cinema, and thus the songs are inspired by Hollywood box office breakers and blockbusters. For instance, 'Life Will Find a Way' seems to be about the dinosaurs of the Jurassic Park series, while follow me is full of references to The Force and other things Star Wars. 'Save Us' is about the X-Men, and - not surprisingly - 'Stranger Tides' is inspired by 'Pirates of the Caribbean', and 'Somewhere in Time' is not an Iron Maiden cover song, but a song about Marty McFly and Doc Brown's adventures in their time-traveling DeLorean. 'Freedom', I presume, is inspired by the Braveheart movie, and 'No Fate' deals with the age-old theme of man versus machine (I am not sure exactly which movies it refers to, but references to Judgment Day would seem to indicate that it might be the Terminator series). 'Temple of the Crystal Skulls'... well, Indiana Jones fans will figure this one out. 'Welcome to the Theare' offers a potpourri of references to various Hollywood classics.

With such a main theme, the music can only be epic and cinematic. Rather than using a real orchestra, this effect is achieved through midi- and synth effects. Unfortunately, this ends up sounding artificial and, along with Tommy Reinxeed's voice and vocal melodies, a major generator of cheese. Musically, we are dealing with almost stereotypical Euro power metal with pounding bass drums, big epic choruses, and an overall larger-than-life air. Overall, this is kind of a turn-off for me.

Or it should be, because there are a couple of songs that really blew me away on this release. I really like the over-the-top epic swashbuckler 'Stranger Tides', which, in my book, counts as a proper pirate metal song. 'Somewhere in Time' - mega epic as it is - also features a lot of good stuff and manages to actually evoke the atmosphere of the movies. I also like the heavier 'No Fate' which is based on a chucking and galloping riff, and, despite a level of cheesiness that rivals the infamous Five Cheese Pizza, I actually like 'Temple of the Crystal Skulls'. Also, there are plenty of good things in most of the songs on the album, such as the uplifting Euro power metal energy - which really works, when it works, and here it works - and Tommy Reinxeed's sublime guitar solos.

So, even for me who does not normally like cheesy power metal, this album has something to offer. It's too much cheese and too little pepperoni for me in one go, but I can definitely enjoy this album a slice at the time.

In all "Welcome to the Theatre" is an extremely cheesy power metal release (and deliberately so, I think), whose epic air almost matches that of the movies which it is inspired by. If you do not like Euro power power metal, you will absolutely hate this release, but fans of Euro power metal and symphonic metal should absolutely adore this release.

Time Signature Swedish hitz goes cheese...

Genre: pop-cheese-power metal

I have always liked the idea of doing metal cover versions of pop songs, so projects like this always pique my interest, but I must say that I was a bit disappointed with this release, and I think that part of my problem is that I am not the biggest fan of cheesy Euro power metal, which is of course the base sound of the ReinXeed guys behind "Swedish Hitz Goes Metal".

I mean, to me, it is more like Swedish Hitz Goes Cheese, and this release has made many of the pop tracks sound even more cheesy than in the original version. I do like the versions of "Mama Mia" and "Money Money Money" because they already have a big and cheesy sound that lends itself well to Euro power metal - the cover versions of "Super Trouper" and "The Winner Takes it All" more than what my cheese tolerance can take though. And the uptempo version of Roxette's "The Look" also works fairly well, while the cover of "Joyride" somehow ended up being more poppy than the original, which is already a rock song. I should mention that i actually quite like the original versions of these songs. Similarly, I quite like the original reggae-tinged version of the melancholic dance hit by Ace of Base "All that She Wants", and I have always found the idea of doing a metal version of this song interesting because it has potential for some massive heaviness (I seem to remember actually having heard a heavy version before which kicked ass), but the power metal cheese prevents the Swedish Hitz goes Metal version from ever reaching a satisfactory level of heaviness.

The album is overall - despite the cheese overload - an enjoyable listen, and I can imagine that it is the perfect soundtrack for a late summer party, but that owes just as much to the inherent hit nature and mass appeal of the original songs (I mean, it is not a coincidence that they became massive Swedish "hitz") as to the power metal reworking.

Should you be a fan of cheesy Euro power metal and of legendary Swedish pop music, your life will definitely be enriched if you buy this album.

Time Signature The cheese has begun...

Genre: Euro power metal

While I was terribly disappointed with Golden Resurrection's shameless slob of über-cheesy Christian propagandist power metal in the form of "Man with a Mission", fellow countrymen and partners in cheese ReinXeed's "1912" proved to be a positive surprise to me.

Sure, we are dealing with archetypical Euro power metal with all the cliches in place and not a lot of innovation, but the musicianship is impeccable, and there is a lot of energy and uplifting spirit to the album.

It has all the things I like about Euro power metal, like the double bass drums, the epic and catchy choruses and the impressive guitar solos. But it also contains all the things I dislike about the genre, such as loads of sticky cheese and dominant keyboards - still, "1912" is less cheesy and more appealing to me than a lot of other Euro power metal I have heard.

The lyrical subject matter deals with the Titanic disaster, which is not really something that a lot of metal bands have touched before, so, in that sense, there there are actually aspects of innovation on the album after all. The vocals fall right into the "fairy"-singer stereotype, but Tommy Johansson really has some impressive pipes and, boy, can he hit some high notes!

A sort of moderate cheese-bomb, ReinXeed's "1912" is recommended to any fan of Euro power metal as it has all the attributes that define the genre.

J-Man Just a little over a year since the release of Majestic, and Swedish symphonic power metal act Reinxeed has returned with 1912. Still sporting their brand of symphonic power metal, the band has crafted another solid (albeit flawed) effort that should please their fans. 1912 is not as strong as Majestic, largely due to the surprisingly dull compositions and lack of variation. Of course, this album is also overflowing with "power metal cheese" - which is not a good thing when it's coming from me. This isn't at all a worthless album, though, seeing that the musicianship is remarkable and the release is highly professional. Unfortunately, those two assets alone cannot make up for the huge detriments created by the overall lack of inspiration throughout the album. 1912 isn't a bad album by any stretch, but I also wouldn't call it a great one.

Reinxeed plays a style of bombastic symphonic power metal with influences from acts like Rhapsody (of Fire), Golden Resurrection, and Narnia. 1912 is heavily layered with symphonic keyboards, fast double-bass rhythms, and lightning-fast neo-classical guitar solos. As such, this isn't the most original album around, but Reinxeed delivers the style professionally. The super-polished production does sound very professional (even though I don't enjoy it) and the musicianship is unquestionably top-notch, but 1912 comes across as far too "cheesy" for me to enjoy. I like quite a bit of power metal, but this album just pushes the level of pompousness that I can handle. 1912 really is the type of power metal album that all of the genre's critics love to pick on - the catchy choruses, intrusive and cheap-sounding keyboards, and "happy" atmosphere will undoubtedly test some people's patience. This album is very much like Majestic in that regard; the arrangements are too bombastic and would greatly benefit from being stripped down a bit. However, 1912 does lack the quality compositions that made Majestic more enjoyable for me. Maybe it's the lack of progression between the two albums, but 1912 does feel much more dull and uninspired than its predecessor. Many of the songs sound almost identical, featuring very similar song structures, arrangements, and in some cases, chord progressions. Reinxeed surely has potential, but it isn't fully lived up to on 1912.

1912 is a decent album overall, but I find it to be a difficult recommendation to most metal fans. Unless you value bombastic arrangements overall quality compositions, you can definitely find better releases out there. Majestic is indeed a better entrance into the music of Reinxeed, and this one is (for the most part) passable. This band has yet to really impress me, but with more variation and less bombast I could see these guys creating a really great power metal album. For now, 1912 is worth 2.5 stars.

The Block Well it’s a year after the release of “Majestic” and it seems that Reinxeed is still on the same path. Granted they have removed some of the cheese from their previous effort and added some more direction to their music, but there’s still enough there that makes you wonder if they learned from their last release. I enjoy some genre clichés in my music, but the amount that Reinxeed puts in unnerves me a bit. This album doesn’t have an overwhelming amount but it’s way more than enough. A good thing about this album is that, as I said before, it has direction to it. “1912” is, as you might’ve guessed, about the tragic tale of the Titanic, its maiden voyage, and its end. While it’s an odd topic that I’ve never heard before in music, let alone metal, it provides for a good story line. But, you probably don’t care for a history lesson so onto the music.

The title track starts right off with a clichéd beginning, with epic synth lines and drums but it eventually settles downs to a lower pace rhythm that is pretty enjoyable. But eventually, like with most of their stuff, it resorts back to pretty cheesy power metal. Tommy Johansson’s vocals on this song and throughout the album are pretty good, but as was with the last album, they are pretty silly when you listen to them. But all in all they sound good and I enjoyed listening to them, though by the end of the album I was just a little sick of them. One thing about the story line that’s weird is that it seems to jump around a bit. First it starts with boarding the boat then there’s a song about the crash and then it goes back and forth between getting saved and the boat crashing again. The cool part about the concept is that at the end the songs seem to take you through different people’s reactions, and what happened to different people.

The guitars on this album are pretty good, also, but as with most cheesy power metal and symphonic metal releases they go on long cheesy guitar riffs that are repeated over and over again. While I do enjoy some of these riffs for their apparent simplicity, if Reinxeed would just cut down a little on the technicality on some songs and slow things down they would have much more diversity on their albums. The production one this album is very crisp and clean. It layers the vocals and guitars almost perfectly, making for a nice feel.

As I said with their last release, if you like very cheesy power/symphonic metal go ahead and pick this up. But, otherwise beware of this album. There are some very good moments on this album, but if you don’t want to sit through a bunch of clichés to get there this album definitely isn’t for you. Reinxeed once again gets 3 stars.