My reaction to Malmsteen’s post-1990s albums is almost as predictable as the formula he used to write them. Invariably, I end up concluding that the Swedish guitar wizard has done better elsewhere. Attack!! is no exception, although there are more surprises here than what I was expecting going in. This turns out to be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, Malmsteen seems to have tried to shake things up a bit across the 15 tracks that form this record, which is never a bad thing. On the other hand, the new directions he experimented with in some of the songs seem somewhat misguided and give the album a fragmented, disjointed feel overall.

In the album’s first-half, Yngwie seems busy attempting to revive the sound and spirit of his glorious past. Fast neoclassical guitar scales abound in the construction of riffs, leads and solos, absolutely dominating the soundscape and instantly bringing to mind the true essence of the genre. Differently from the neoclassical power metal strain that became popular in the 1990s, the spirit of songs like “Valley of Kings”, “Ship of Fools”, or the title-track, is truly rooted in the classic origins of the genre, displaying a hard rock swagger that instantly connects to the music of the 1970s (Deep Purple, Rainbow). Enlisting Doogie White on vocals was a clever move to make that connection even more credible, as the singer does a good job at infusing the polished baroque melodies with some healthy rock ‘n’ roll grit. With the guitar and voice firmly put at the heart of each song, the other musicians are vastly relegated to an inconspicuous sparring partner role, which is mad considering the talents Yngwie managed to enlist here (did he really need Derek Sherinian to play simple chords in a handful of tracks?). But this won’t surprise anyone who is familiar with Malmsteen or who has simply glanced at the endless list of musicians that have transited in his band over the years.

If the album’s first-half flows away pleasantly albeit with a general sense of deja-vu, the second-half is where things start going awry. Here Yngwie attempted to shake things up with a handful of tracks that depart from the usual neoclassical formula, but unfortunately took things in directions that are not particularly convincing. If the detour towards classical instrumental music (“Baroque & Roll”, “Air”) fits well with the album’s overall aesthetics, I cannot say the same about the AOR inflections of “Stronghold” and “Touch the Sky”, or about the straightforward but insipid rock ‘n’ roll vibes of “Mad Dog”. The major offender, however, is “Freedom Isn't Free” a fuzzy blues affair that may nod to Jimi Hendrix, but in a way that would have made the poor man roll over in his grave. The fact that Yngwie decided to sing this song himself with a performance which isn’t exactly for the history books, only adds to the woes of what must be the album’s absolutely lowest point.

The combination of inconsistent direction and lack of quality makes the album’s latter part a chore to sit through and, by the time I get to “Freedom Isn't Free”, I usually press the STOP button because I can’t seem to make myself care about the LP anymore (which is a pity since “Majestic Blue” and “Valhalla” are not bad songs, actually). The shaky sound production isn’t exactly encouraging repeat listens, either. Unsurprisingly, the guitars dominate the soundscape, but they are mixed oddly with the rhythm guitar hard-panned to the right and the bass hard-panned to the left in the stereo mix, giving an odd, disjointed feel to the overall sound. The sudden spikes in volume that occur whenever the lead guitar kicks in contribute to the same unpleasant effect. The drums are also mixed in a strange way, very loud and in your face but with a flat, lifeless sound that at times is actually annoying (the snare in “Attack!!”).

Overall, Attack!! leaves me with the general impression of a less accomplished and less inspired version of the sound Yngwie pioneered in the 1980s, with the further aggravating factor of a highly inconsistent and misguided second-half. For some, Attack!! may still be better than the two albums that immediately preceded it, but we are a long long way from anything that might resemble a reasonable return to form.

Sinergy’s third full-length album, Suicide by My Side, is one of those records that it will take you exactly 15 seconds to know whether you like or not. That’s because what you hear in the first 15 seconds of its opening track “I Spit on Your Grave” gives you a very precise idea of what the remaining 38 minutes of the album have to offer: a relentless sonic assault that blends the melodic exuberance of NWOBHM twin-guitar approach with the uncompromising aggression of 1980s thrash, sprinkling touches of neoclassical metal guitar wizardy along the way. Another way to describe the Finnish band’s approach is a growl-less, more polished version of Children of Bodom that takes more time to explore the 1980s roots of their sound than Alexi Laiho’s band ever did.

It may be somewhat mischievous to describe Sinergy’s music by referencing well-known bands and well-consolidated genres from the past, but on the other hand the description seems to capture well the spirit which seems to have fuelled the band’s short-lived musical career. I will not go as far as calling Sinergy a CoB side-project despite the presence of Roope Latvala and Alexi Laiho in both bands’ line-ups, but it seems clear to me that Sinergy and this album should be taken as a “lets-have-some-fun” affair aimed at making no-frills, no-nonsense, straight-in-your-face heavy metal music, without much concern for “breaking new ground” or “experimenting with new sounds”. The fact the rest of the line-up was comprised of other prominent members of the Finnish musical scene at the time (Tonmi Lillman from To/Die/For on drums; Marco Hietala on bass) reinforces the impression of a gathering of likeminded artists who simply wanted to let out some steam by playing uncompromising, wild heavy metal.

Of the five musicians involved, only singer Kimberly Goss had a relatively inconspicuous curriculum at the time, which effectively made Sinergy her main band. This observation suggests another interpretation for Sinergy’s musical proposal, as a vehicle for Kimberly’s creativity. This alternative version is also plausible, both because of her role as main songwriter in a number of songs included on this album, and because Kimberly’s voice is probably the aspect of Suicide by My Side that stands out the most, next to the amazing twin guitarwork by Latvala and Laiho. Departing from the typical approach of other female lead singers in metal bands at the time, Kimberly unleashes a monstrous performance, packed with tons of distortion and grit, and almost terrifying in terms of sheer power and aggression. There’s little doubt in my mind that, despite the cult status that many of her bandmates had or will acquire, she is the true star of the show here and the ultimate reason Sinergy is a name that has left a mark in the annals, unlike other bands that have attempted a similar musical path.

Suicide by My Side offers a fun, energetic 38-minute listening experience, but it ultimately dies by its own hand as the same qualities that make it stand out are also those that eventually hold it back. First, Kimberly’s vocals. All the ripping and roaring can definitely be too much after a while and, a few songs into the album, one does feel the need of a change in delivery. You’d think the balladish number “Written in Stone” may give you just that, but not really, as Kimberly pretty much keeps ripping and roaring there as elsewhere on the record, just at a slower tempo. It is not just Kimberly’s approach that feels slightly unidimensional. More generally, it’s hard to shake off the feeling that this album would benefit from a few more changes in pace, mood and delivery. Out of the 10 songs here, 7 are pretty much cut out of the same cloth: fast-and-furious, high-octane 1980s heavy metal. Nothing wrong with that, but it gets boring after a while, especially considering the slightly derivative nature of the material. “Written in Stone” slows things down a bit as mentioned earlier, but without really providing any noticeable change in style, while “Remembrance” is a short instrumental outro that feels more like an afterthought than an integral part of the record. It is only “Shadow Island” that feels truly different from the rest of the material. This song unfurls through different sections, multiple tempo changes, and a whirlwind of moods that it’s rare to find elsewhere on the record. It also stands out for the use of multiple vocal styles: Kimberly’s cleans, Alexi’s black/death growls and a clean, semi-operatic choir sung by Kimberly and Marco Hietala. This song is far more interesting than any of the other tracks on the album and it shows glimpses of the greatness this band could have achieved if they had perhaps taken the whole Sinergy project more seriously and more ambitiously.

Despite its limitations, Suicide by My Hand is a fun record to spin every once in a while. It has passion and energy like you won’t find in many other records. It has plenty of excellent, at times even godly, guitar work. And it is a powerful reminder that female vocals in metal do not have a place only in traditional beauty-and-the-beast bands. As long as you don’t expect too much from it, it’s hard to see how you won’t have a good time with this record.

Hot on the heels of the success of Avantasia’s 2001 debut record, Tobias Sammet released the second instalment of his metal opera already one year later, relying on same cast of musicians and vocalists who had lent him their talents for Part 1. The overall approach has not changed much either relative to the first part: The Metal Opera Part 2 has the same ambition to unite the spirit of rock operas and Broadway musicals with that of heavy metal.

Sammet seems to have a clear idea of how to achieve this. His basic formula contains three key ingredients: 1) liberal inspiration from the heavy metal subgenres he admires the most (NWOBHM, classic heavy metal, European power metal), 2) a touch of theatrical flair by virtue of tasteful piano and keyboards arrangements, and 3) most importantly, a large cast of singers to interpret the songs, with each singer assigned to a different character as in a musical. The approach feels slightly primitive and visceral, and it lacks the sophistication and breadth of an Arjen Lucassen’s rock/metal opera, but it does work and it has certainly delivered a bunch of great songs across this and the previous record.

Sammet’s metal opera sounds most convincing when one can most clearly perceive a difference in songwriting between the songs written for Avantasia and those Sammet writes for his regular band, German speed/power metal veterans Edguy. On Part 1, this happened only sporadically, whereas here Sammet seems to have made a more conscious effort to avoid relying too much on standard speed/power metal aesthetics. This is what makes The Metal Opera Part 2 a more successful and satisfying album compared to its predecessor, in my opinion. The songwriting is more varied, spanning a wider array of styles in metal and rock, with nods to the great bands of the past (Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Rainbow, Dio) as well as the contemporaneous German speed/power metal scene. This variety injects a sense of development and purpose to the album, which flows like a story should.

Two mellow, vaguely AOR songs like “The Looking Glass” and “In Quest For”, majestically interpreted by Bob Catley, may feel out of place on a metal album, but they are perfect in the context of a metal/rock opera, as they provide a suitable change of pace, mood and delivery compared to the faster and heavier material found in the rest of the album, thus adding another dimension to the music. The contrast with the following track “The Final Sacrifice”, which is one of the heaviest pieces here, fuelled by David DeFeis’s mighty roar, is wonderful and it is exactly what one needs to develop an overarching, dynamic narrative that can transcend individual songs and be more than the sum of its parts. The album’s opener “The Seven Angels” is another example of the considerable progress Sammet made in his songwriting in the span of a few months. Even though one could describe it as essentially two songs stitched together by a semi-ambient mid-section, the flow feels natural and works well, with good dynamics that allow the listener to engage with the music for the whole 14 minutes of the song’s duration.

Unfortunately, after an explosive and near-perfect first-half, the album inexplicably peters out in the second half, with a sequence of songs that are much more homogeneous in style and feel less inspired overall. Here the speed/power metal aesthetics seem to prevail, which may be a hint of auto-pilot songwriting on the part of Sammet. The fact these songs rely on a cast of singers who sound quite similar to one another (Rob Rock, Kai Hansen, Sammet himself) is another reason why I feel slightly underwhelmed every time I pass track #5 and go through the album’s final five songs. It is only with the closing song “Into the Unknown” that things get interesting again, mostly thanks to the beautiful vocal contribution by Sharon den Adel, who as in Part 1 feels again criminally underutilized by Sammet.

Overall, if Sammet’s ultimate goal was to forge a new genre of music (“the metal opera”), it’s fair to say that Avantasia only partially succeeded in doing so in their first two records. The speed/power metal dimension ultimately dominates proceedings here as in 2001’s Part 1 and the “opera” elements mostly come in the form of multiple singers interpreting the songs. However, The Metal Opera Part 2 comes a step closer to hitting the mark compared to Part 1, by virtue of a first-half which gives us glimpses of how one can accomplish a natural and successful hybridization between the worlds of metal and Broadway. I suspect this is ultimately why this album receives consistently less praise than its precursor in metal circles, as it is a step removed from metal orthodoxy and a step closer to realizing Sammet’s true vision for Avantasia.

Vision of Atlantis’ debut album Eternal Endless Infinity firmly belongs to the symphonic power metal subgenre that Nightwish popularized in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Closer to home, fellow Austrian band Edenbridge are another reference for the six-piece formation from Bruck an der Mur. As per the genre’s aesthetics, the line-up is comprised of two vocalists, one male (Christian Stani) and one female (Nicole Bogner), and a keyboard player (Chris Kamper), in addition to the standard metal/rock instrumentation (guitars: Werner Fiedler, bass: Mike Koren, drums: Thomas Caser).

If you are familiar with the genre, you won’t find many surprises in Eternal Endless Infinity. The formula the band follows throughout the LP’s ten tracks is tried and true. A tight double-bass drumming dictates a fast tempo in most songs, which the guitars and bass follow diligently by providing a satisfying low-end chugginess to the music. Chris Kamper’s symphonic flourish are very prominent and very very good, spanning a wide range of timbres and styles, from classical orchestration to electronic effects (“Eclipse”). Folk influences are occasionally blended into the music, too. Instrumentally, the album’s ten songs offer top-notch material, showcasing the four musicians’ technical proficiency (listen to Thomas Caser’s high-speed drum fills), but also their taste and skills in writing and arranging the songs.

However, two things hold this album back. First and foremost, the production is terrible. To put it bluntly, the sound quality is closer to that of a demo than a professional studio album. The guitars sound raw and at the same time lack presence. The bass is inaudible. The drums sound poor as well, flat and lifeless. Meanwhile, the vocals seem to have been recorded with the singers placed two meters away from the mic: their voices often struggle to emerge from the background and at times completely disappear behind the other instruments (are those muffled noises in “Lords of the Sea” and “The Quest” supposed to be growls?). Talking about vocals, this is the other main drawback of the record. Granted, they have not been recorded very well, but it is also clear that the two singers, Christian Stani and Nicole Bogner, are not yet in full control of their voices. Nicole in particular seem to struggle with her power, and her mezzosoprano vocals at times sound incredibly feeble and tentative. On the other hand, she seems to have a good timbre and a decent range. Christian Stani’s delivery is more satisfying, although he seems to have an inferior range and technique compared to Nicole. Overall, both their performances do not sound fully convincing, albeit for different reasons, which is of course a massive problem given that the band’s chosen genre requires the focus to be placed on the vocals.

Having said that, I must also concede that Eternal Endless Infinity does possess a special charm. Part of it comes from the spontaneity and enthusiasm the band clearly put in the songwriting, which is simple and by no means perfect, but also bursts with an energy and genuine passion that one may not always find in more accomplished releases. In many ways, Vision of Atlantis’ spontaneous approach reminds of Nightwish’s early records, which were similarly imperfect and eager to impress. Another contribution to the album’s special charm comes from Christian Stani’s vocal delivery. I criticized his technique earlier, but it is also true that his shouted, almost goth/punk approach stands out in a positive way in the context of this record, especially because it creates a beautiful contrast with the power metal stylings of the compositions.

Ultimately, these factors are Eternal Endless Infinity’s redeeming grace and save it from total disaster. It is not enough, however, to elevate the album beyond a “collectors only” status, in my opinion. Better examples in this subgenre abound, both from other bands and from Vision of Atlantis themselves. Eternal Endless Infinity is thus interesting to explore only if you are a fan of the band and want to dig deeper into their origins.

German six-piece At Vance were unbelievably prolific at the start of their career. Only Human is their fourth full-length in only 4 years. One could fear this high-volume may come at the detriment of the quality of the songwriting, but this is generally not the case here. Although Only Human is not immune to filler tracks, most songs included on the LP are very solid, some even brilliant, examples of well-composed, proficiently played neoclassical metal. The stars of the project are undeniably guitar player (and main songwriter) Olaf Lenk and singer Oliver Hartmann. Lenk is a terrific guitarist, capable of writing muscular yet sublimely melodic riffs as well as solos that are not mere shredding but also have purpose and sense of direction. Hartmann is an incredibly underrated singer, who gained recognition at the beginning of his career (he featured in a number of “rock/metal opera” productions, most notably in Avantasia’s first two LPs) but somewhat disappeared from the scenes later on. His voice is a cross between RJ Dio and David Coverdale, gritty yet exquisitely melodic and with an innate sense of melancholy that carries over even in his most aggressive delivery. The rest of the lineup is also solid, although they are not given much room to shine in the tight, no-nonsense compositions that form the album.

Propelled by this talented lineup, Only Human delivers a handful of outstanding songs. The record’s first-half is particularly compelling. Songs like the title-track, “Take My Pain”, “Fly to the Rainbow” and the ballad “Hold Your Fire” come filled with memorable hooks and a healthy dose of metallic grittiness, and easily stand neck to neck with the best output from the genre’s forbearers and guiding lights (Rainbow, Yngwie Malmsteen’s Rising Force). In fact, looking at the poor quality of Yngwie’s output in the new millennium, I’d bet this is the album he would have wanted to write in 2002 for his Rising Force instead of Attack!!. It’s not all 1980s nostalgia, though, as At Vance also venture into symphonic territories that reminded me of Royal Hunt, especially in “Take My Pain” and “Time”, two songs whose arrangements have the expansive, polyphonic quality the Danish band have become famous for. At Vance’s symphonic ambitions are further showcased in the two instrumentals “Four Seasons/Spring” and “Solfeggietto”, which are metal renditions of classical music pieces by Vivaldi and Bach, respectively.

While Only Human starts with a bang, I cannot say I was equally impressed by the LP’s second-half. Here At Vance seem to lose somewhat steam and sense of direction. “Sing This Song” and “Witches’ Dance” usher in odd folkish influences that do not blend well with the rest of the material, while “Take Me Away” is perhaps the most obvious filler track of the whole album. Culling some of these weaker tracks would have done good to the overall listening experience. I would have also enjoyed the album more if At Vance had generally embraced a more succinct songwriting approach, since many of the songs feel perhaps a tad too lengthy for what they actually have to say. Ultimately, the slightly inconsistent quality of the album’s tracklist as well as the objectively derivative nature of the material included here prevents me to regard this record as a masterpiece, although it is nevertheless a good album that I enjoy spinning every now and again.