SilentScream213 Therion finally found the sound they’ve been chasing for a long time and ended up with a full on Symphonic Metal classic with tons of Gothic, Progressive and extreme Metal influence. Tons of guests here, it’s lush with different instruments, vocal styles, and overall styles.

As one of the earliest examples of the genre, Therion were pioneering a sound that would later be super influential in the strain of Symphonic Death Metal bands and the darker, more Gothic tinged side of the genre as well. Most of the guitars are rhythmic in nature, with lead melodies usually being carried by vocals, string instruments and keys. It’s a wildly fun album that just has so much going for it.

Weak points include the aforementioned guitars (about 2 memorable guitar leads here) and an over relying on operatic vocals, which can get grating pretty quickly. Other than that though, it’s a great quality album way ahead of its time.

P.S. The Metal portion of Siren of the Woods is phenomenal, but the song is scalped by having a four minute intro.

UMUR "S&M 2" is a double live album release (which in the days of vinyl would probably have been a three- or a four album release). The album was released through Blackened Recordings in August 2020. The title of the album refers to the 1999 "S&M" live album, which is a similar collaborative effort with Metallica playing along side the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. While the original "S&M" (1999) concert performance was conducted by Michael Kamen, the concert performance on "S&M 2" was conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas and Edwin Outwater. The "S&M 2" concert was also filmed and given a theatrical release in October 2019. A Blu-Ray version was released simoultaniously with the live album.

"S&M 2" features 22 tracks and a total playing time of just little under 2 and a half hours. Needless to say it´s a massive body of music, but since Metallica have written so many instantly recognisable heavy/thrash metal tracks, the playing time doesn't necessarily feel that long. Disc 1 is dominated by post-"The Black Album" (1991) material, although it also includes "The Call of Ktulu" and "For Whom the Bell Tolls" (and of course a classical orchestra version of "The Ecstasy of Gold" by Ennio Morricone, which is always the opening track at Metallica´s shows.

Disc 2 predominantly features "The Black Album" (1991) and pre-"The Black Album" (1991) material, although it also includes "The Unforgiven III" and "All Within My Hands", and a couple of classical music pieces (by Sergei Prokofiev and Alexander Mosolov).

Adding a symphonic orchestra to rock music is nothing new and several other rock and heavy metal artists have done it before (including Deep Purple and Metallica themselves as mentioned above), and with varying degrees of success. Honestly I was very critical of "S&M" (1999) when it was released, and I felt it was like standing in between a heavy metal band´s rehearsal room and a concert hall where a classical orchestra played. I don´t think that recording worked that well and the two parts of the music just never gelled. Thankfully "S&M 2" works much better and to my ears the heavy metal part of the music and the classical orchestra parts now function as a unit, and create a new and interesting take on Metallica´s music.

Metallica are as well playing as ever and the album features a superb sounding production job. Everything is audible in the mix and there´s some great audience interaction from Hetfield (relatively sparse, but it works) and you can often hear the audience sing along, which in this case is really nice and definitely enhancing the listening experience. So all in all I´m much more entertained and satisfied with this second "heavy metal meets classical orchestra" attempt from Metallica. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

lukretion Swedish symphonic metal masters Therion are back with their 18th studio album, which is also the second instalment of their “Leviathan Trilogy” launched last year with the release of the first Leviathan album. Out on October 28th via Nuclear Blast, Leviathan II sticks to the template Christofer Johnsson announced for the trilogy: to give fans a bird-eye overview of Therion’s classic sound in all its different facets, from bombastic and catchy “hits”, to melancholic symphonies, to adventurous excursions in proggy territories. The first Leviathan mainly focused on the hits, while Leviathan II takes on the moodier aspects of the Swedes’ music, using their iconic 1998 album Vovin as a blueprint.

The guitarist did keep to his word and the 11 songs we find on Leviathan II sound indeed as a sort of “best of” of Therion’s most melancholic material from the period between Vovin and Sirius B. The songwriting mostly idles in the mid-tempo range, although there are frequent tempo changes that ensure unpredictable injections of energy, keeping proceedings lively. The mood is solemn and gloomy, an effect underscored by the use of grave and lush choral arrangements that use the full spectrum of voices, from soprano to bass. The vocal melodies are excellent and I love the smooth way that the operatic singing is intertwined with a more straightforward rock/metal style. The alternation between different vocal styles (and singers) throughout the album propels it forward dynamically, escaping the pitfall of unidimensionality that has plagued some previous Therion’s records. The mellower and more introspective nature of Leviathan II also invites a slower unwinding of the music, without rushing for the big chorus hook as it was instead the case for the previous album. As a result, Leviathan II features a better balance between instrumental parts and vocals, compared to the first instalment of the trilogy. There are more spots for guitar and keyboard solos as well as lengthier instrumental passages, with great interplay between chuggy guitar riffs, orchestral scores, and 1970s Hammond and mellotron keyboards.

These qualities make Leviathan II a rather enthralling listen from start to finish. The quality of the material is consistently high and Johnsson wisely injects good variation across the 11 compositions, alternating soft ballads (“Lunar Coloured Fields”, “Hades and Elysium”) with more energetic pieces, in some cases even reviving the use of harsh vocals (“Lucifuge Rofocale”). The middle section of the album may plod a little, with material that feels a tad less inspired (“Hades and Elysium”, “Midnight Star”), but things take a very interesting turn towards the end of the LP. Here Johnsson sneaked in a couple of proggy moments, perhaps as an appetizer for Leviathan Part III, which has been announced to lean into progressive rock territory. This is most apparent on “Cavern Cold as Ice”, which is also my favourite track on the album. It starts with a Jethro Tull-like flute flourish that soon makes space for some beautiful ABBA-infused vocal harmonies and a melody that could feature in a Broadway musical. Things get even weirder as a menacing mid-section slows down the tempo to doom levels of sluggishness before the song explodes in a climactic solo. Quite an adventure indeed! “Pazuzu” is another gem, featuring a tremendous performance by Eclipse’s singer Erik Mårtensson which adds an extra gritty kick to the song, closing the record in style.

For all its positives, Leviathan II (and the trilogy as a whole) puts this reviewer in a difficult conundrum. On this album, like on its predecessor, Therion deliberately take inspiration from their own back catalogue to capture and revive the essence of the “classic Therion sound”, and write new classics with it. In that respect, Leviathan II is a resounding success: the music on this album is really strong, probably the best Therion have recorded in over a decade. However, why should you buy and listen to this record, rather than dust off the shelves your old copy of monumental albums like Vovin or Theli? There’s no easy answer that works for everyone here. Personally, I find that those early albums possess a stronger mystique, and possibly better flow and coherence, too. On the other hand, Leviathan II has better production value (the choirs and orchestrations sound fantastic) as well as more refined songwriting and arrangements that come with the additional two decades of experience that Mr. Johnsson has meanwhile developed. In the end, I can happily live in a world where the Leviathan trilogy coexists with the band’s back catalogue – spinning the latter when I want a more immersive and momentous experience, and the former when I need a quick fix of quintessential Therion sound.

[Originally written for The Metal Observer]

martindavey87 Here’s something that I imagine nobody asked for, and I imagine not many people are interested to listen to, but here we have it anyway; ‘Plays Metallica by Four Cellos’ by Apocalyptica. An album of Metallica covers played by, well… four cello players.

I give them kudos for originality, I mean, surely there’s not much else out there like this, and in their world of classical instruments, this might make them stand out quite a bit (it sure must have, because they’d go on to become a legit metal band), but overall, this is just kind of boring to listen to. I don’t care much for cellos, although a full-blown orchestra covering Metallica would have been more exciting. But cellos? No thanks.

Still, it makes an interesting novelty listen I guess. But after one or two plays the novelty wears thin. Why would anyone want to listen to this over the actual Metallica versions? Perhaps classical music fans that want to dabble in something different than the usual Bach or Beethoven? Who knows?

The end result, however, is that it put them on the map, and now they’re in a successful recording and touring band, and I’m not. So maybe I need to take up the cello instead!

Kev Rowland To celebrate the 15th anniversary of the final album by After Forever it has just been reissued by Nuclear Blast on vinyl and CD along with an additional bonus cut and new notes by the band members themselves. They may have only released five albums, but there is no doubt the band had a huge impact on the progressive metal scene, with founder Mark Jansen leaving after the second album to create Epica while singer Floor Jansen has of course now cemented her place as frontwoman of Nightwish. Having not played this album for some considerable time I had forgotten just how good it is. Floor has long been one of the most incredible singers around, and here she is involved with music which is complex but more metallic than her current outfit. When guitarist Sander Gommans comes in with the harsh vocals it is absolutely brutal, providing huge contrast.

Some songs, such as “Withering Time” do contain more operatic and classical sections, but they are a band who originally started playing much heavier music and it is the metal which often shines through. “De-Energized” is metal to the core, with just a few symphonic overtones, and when Floor finally makes her entrance, she has a driving metallic gothic core to place her vocals against, while Sander is most definitely making his presence felt on this one. With the very high profile these days of Floor and her performances with Nightwish, there is no doubt that this reissue will get far more attention than the original did when it came out all those years ago, and rightly so. I first came across them with their second album, ‘Decipher’, back in 2001 and never felt they gained the respect they deserved. Perhaps fifteen years down the track the time is now right for their music to be re-evaluated, and this is a definite goodie.

Pekka You probably know the story. Anette Olzon, Tarja Turunen's replacement at the Nightwish mic was let go in the middle of the band's tour for Imaginaerum, and Floor Jansen was summoned to be her stand in at an extremely short notice, finally ending up as the permanent vocalist. At least for the time being, that is, knowing the band's tumultous history with their front women. While all this was happening they had the cameras rolling for a tour documentary they would probably have released anyway, but this turn of events naturally kicked the interest level up a notch or two.

The documentary starts at the turning point of the tour - the gig with the Kamelot singers while Anette was hospitalized and the heroic entry of Floor Jansen, and so naturally the viewer expects a dramatic back story of how they got to the low point. But no, the tour starts out great and everything goes smoothly and the touring machine is examined in great detail from many angles right down to Tuomas Holopainen's wine bottle stand under the keyboards. The tour continues to be a success and everyone is having fun, and suddenly they have insurmountable personnel strife that just can't be salvaged. Especially after reading the mercilessly honest and brutally detailed official band biography, it's very disappointing that the problems with Anette are in no way explained. They just couldn't continue being in the same band and that's that.

So the big potential is wasted, possibly due to Anette's refusal to be included in any form, and that may after all be a blessing in disguise, since the documentary was originally supposed to be a stand alone release. I'm only guessing here, but perhaps this bastardisation was the reason they chose to include the Wacken gig as well, and push the documentary to the second disc.

And holy hell are they on fire in the main feature! I get immense pleasure from the sense that this group that I started listening back in 1997 when I first heard The Carpenter on a metal compilation cassette (fuck yeah) made by a friend, and lost for some years after Once, has finally found the perfect line-up without a single hiccup. Tarja's voice was what made the band stand out in the beginning, but as a metal frontwoman she was always awkward, as was the pop-oriented Anette Olzon after her. Third time's the charm, and in Floor Jansen they have a true stunning metal goddess with lungs to handle any and every song from the band's catalogue while making them her own. And let's not underestimate the official addition of Troy Donockley, who brings important colour to their sound. I'll be excited to hear how the band utilises his rather metalless but extremely pleasant voice on the next album.

The band is captured touring my favourite Nightwish album, so the setlist leaves little to be desired, but it would've been nice to hear more than one track from their first three albums. And Scaretale from Imaginaerum, though that was such a perfect performance by Anette that I doubt Floor can top that. Nightwish as a musical unit is so much tied to the taped orchestrations these days that it leaves very little space for improvisation, which is why it's nice to hear a little additional keyboard solo in I Wish I Had An Angel, and which is also why it's easy to let the newly improved vocal department steal the show.

Put cameras on this show, and it's bound to be brilliant. The band were on top of their game on this tour after the personnel change, so it will be interesting to see how they make the new line-up work on record. For the first time since 2005 I'm eagerly awaiting the next Nightwish album.

Concert ***** Documentary **½

AtomicCrimsonRush "Let's hear it for Michael Kamen yeah!" He was the only one who had the guts to do this. This is the ultimate exercise in excess, to marry Metallica with a Symphony orchestra. The DVD is a crystal clear well edited package onthe ultimate event of the year. It is great to watch the orchestra getting into the music and then to see Metallica banging along. The crowd are as raucous as any Metallicrowd and of course it is as heavy as it always is. There are some fantastic surprises such as Call Of Cthulu sounding very Gothic and powerful with the violins and brass. The concert shows in equal measure the band and orchestra trading off seamlessly. It has been done before of course with Deep Purple and other metal acts. It is almost becoming a cliche of late with many bands taking up the idea including Kiss, Within Temptation, Dream Theater and Therion, all of which are captured on DVD. Non metal acts have done it such as Camel, Yes and ELP. The weird thing about it is these orchestral and rock marriages always work for me. I love to hear that massive orchestral sound with the crunching distortion of guitars. To hear a violin sweep across when you expect a guitar solo is bliss to my ears.

There are so many highlights on this DVD including Master of Puppets, more dramatic than ever, the darkness of super heavy The Thing That Should Not Be, The Memory Remains, iconic with audience participation, Nothing Else Matters, a definitive highlight and the crowd are in raptures when this is played. For Whom the Bell Tolls sounds very Gothic with the sweeping violins, and the song One is a masterpiece with the orchestral accompaniment.

The footage is professionally shot and edited as you would expect and it is nice to see the orhestra mamebrs having fun with this. None of the songs are less heavy, they are augmented to majestic heights. Watching this concert live is the best experience which is perhaps a pinnacle of the group's existence. Soon after it all turned sour as we know, captured on the astonishing Some Kind of Monster doco, but it is so great to see Metallica at the height of their powers as we do in S & M. Check out this DVD to see metal at its grandest.

adg211288 I find that music DVD’s can be a hit or miss thing’s with fans but this one is a definite hit. If you haven’t had the chance to see Within Temptation live then this DVD captures them at their flawless best; perfect renditions of many of their best songs, spanning all four studio releases that they had at the time, great stage sets and special guests. I’ve actually seen the band while they promoted the album that they released in 2007, The Heart of Everything and in that show they mainly only played songs from said album and The Silent Force, throwing in a couple of fan favourites from Mother Earth, so The Silent Force Tour DVD makes for a great chance to see early classics such as Candles and The Other Half (of me) performed.

Clearly the band have spared no expense to make their show one to rival that of band’s said to be the some of the greatest live performers of modern times. We see a torch light procession for Candles, huge blow up creeper things to represent the power of nature during Mother Earth and lead singer Sharon den Adel suspended above the stage in a cage for Caged. Some band’s will go out of stage and just play but not Within Temptation. This is not just music, this is a show.

But first and foremost in importance is the music. Within Temptation play without fault and Sharon den Adel never misses a single note. We even get to hear the vocals of guitarist Robert Westerholt on a couple of songs, giving fans who may have only heard The Silent Force or The Heart of Everything a chance to hear Within Temptation’s earlier ‘beauty and the beast’ style of vocal delivery. Song highlights are Deceiver of Fools, Angels, Caged, Mother Earth, Candles, The Other Half (of me), Jane Doe and It’s the Fear.

Extras wise there is three music videos for the singles that came from The Silent Force (Stand My Ground, Angels, Memories) and two shorter live appearances on the first of the two discs. The extra live shows only have songs that appear in the main show and one is the same songs as the three music videos but it’s the main concert that you should be buying this for. If you’re like me you won’t be bother by that fact after you’ve watched the main show.

On the second disc you’ll find backstage footage from various places; making of documentaries for The Silent Force album and the three music videos; some interviews; a photo gallery and a bloopers/credits section. It’s not stuff that you’d probably watch more than once but I’m giving this DVD it’s rating based on the main feature. All this extra stuff is just a bonus next to that. That in itself I feel is justification for the 100% score I’m giving this DVD. If you like this band, what are you waiting for? Go buy it.

(Review originally written for Heavy Metal Haven)

Stooge I had owned the CD version of S&M years ago, so it is good to revisit this with the visuals thrown in. Contrary to what I remembered from the CD, there really isn’t too much toestepping between what Metallica plays and what the orchestra plays. Most of the songs sound about as smooth as the originals. In fact, the only songs that I’m still not convinced worked effectively were “Until It Sleeps”, “Wherever I May Roam”, “Sad But True”, and much of “Battery” (though I love the intro). Even “Enter Sandman” worked surprisingly well.

Most of the material in this concert comes from songs from the Black Album and later. I would have liked to see a bit more variety in their song selection as there are plenty of songs from their past that almost naturally lend themselves to orchestration. Even a tune off of Kill ‘Em All would have been an interesting attempt.

Just for fun, here are some songs I would have liked to see them attempt with the orchestra: “Fade To Black”, “Orion”, “Welcome Home (Sanitarium)”, “…And Justice For All”, and “The Unforgiven”.

Although not the first rock/metal band to perform with an orchestra, Metallica often gets credit for starting a trend for rock bands to collaborate with an orchestra. However, much of the credit for the success of S&M should be given to conductor Michael Kamen. He was the one who spearheaded the project by taking an interest in Metallica’s music and proposing that they further collaborate (he did some arranging in 1991 on “Nothing Else Matters”). His arrangements on the two previously unreleased songs, “No Leaf Clover” and “- Human”, give both songs a strong identity. It would have been interesting to hear an entire album or an EP with all new material, because the collaboration certainly had potential.

As a whole, I’d say this is a good Metallica release. The performance by all involved is good and it’s shot well. However, it would be a stretch to call this essential Metal(lica).