earMUSIC
2014
1. Avalon
2. Hellbent
3. Pale Rider
4. Born To Fly
5. Master Of Confusion
6. Empire Of The Undead
7. Time For Deliverance
8. Demonseed
9. Seven
10. I Will Return
I can't really say I've ever been as huge on Gamma Ray as some people. I've liked them well enough, at times, but I've never put them on top of the power metal heap. Actually, I liked them considerably better and found them more adventurous and interesting on their Ralf Scheepers era material, but I guess I'm just an odd power metal fan like that. All that being said, I did think their last album was pretty good, if again, not the best power metal has to offer. I think it's been since New World Order that this band has actually excited me, but there are worse things to my ears than pretty decent power metal so I figured I'd give this a shot.
Well, it looks like we're in for a track by track ride again because I compiled a rather long list of notes/gripes listening to this one. From the start Avalon is alright, but isn't the kind of song I'd recommend to set the tone early as it is a bit too mid-paced and generic to start. It does pick up about halfway and it's not bad, but has little fire to make it jump out and I'd like to hear a bit more of that from Gamma Ray. Kai also doesn't really establish himself early as the vocals just lack the force to really sell this kind of a slow starter with softer moments mixed in early. If the music is going to be this low energy I'd at least like some passion in the vocal delivery to lift it up. Following that Hellbent is considerably higher energy and features some nice riffs, but is not without it's own problems. For one thing the lyrical unoriginality is kinda striking here. I'm pretty sure I've heard a band singing about being hellbent for something before. It's hard to avoid retreading familiar grounds sometimes, but this is pretty blatant. Hellbent for Metal is even the name of a Judas Priest tribute album. After that pretty good, but not so creative song we have Pale Rider which is kinda groove oriented and not half bad at it. I continue to be unimpressed with Kai though who sounds kinda raspy and unimpressive on the highs. Moving on to Born To Fly, this one reminds me a bit of something that could have appeared on another Judas Priest album, but this time it's Turbo. The music here has sort of a retro grooviness to it at times and at others has more of melodic flow. Comparing things to Turbo is rarely favorable and such is the case here regarding the quality of the track. The lyrics dip into the land of cliche again as well with lyrics about flying like an Eagle. I'm pretty sure I've heard something similar a time or two before to say the least. Master Of Confusion follows this with more of a melodic, but upbeat flow driven by the bass that kinda reminds me of Heaven or Hell. This is probably the most enjoyable track so far with it's catchy qualities, but it is a bit familiar as well.
Starting off the second half of the album, the title track opens up well with a decent wail and some faster guitar. It's a good start, but it quickly becomes apparent there's not a lot of variation in the music here and the riffs are a bit too familiar. The vocals are really starting to become a weak spot here as well as Kai tries to speedily talk along with the music before moving into some slightly gruffer vocals. Time For Deliverance then suddenly bottoms out on the heaviness scale with kind of a sappy sounding power metal ballad that would have been better off being left on the cutting room floor. Following this Demonseed has a very choppy sound and is another midpaced number. The stop/go sound of this wears on me quickly and it pretty much overstays it's welcome at 6:39.
On a legitimately positive note, Seven actually manages to wake me up as it comes in with a blazing riff, a nice melodic/catchy sound, and just a higher degree of memorability and energy than the rest of the album has mustered. This is one of those hidden gem sort of songs that just makes you wonder why the rest of the release couldn't have been like this. If more of Empires of the Undead was like this album would end up with a considerably higher rating than I had in mind after hearing all the songs it took to get here. Finally, closing out the album comes I Will Return which starts off with some happier sounding power metal before gaining a bit of edge to the guitar and picking up the speed. This one also has a pretty good energy level and is an above averge quick paced power metal song. Maybe not a new classic, but the album ends with a couple tracks that are easily better than the rest of the release.
Overall, listening to Empire of the Undead I heard a band that seems a bit tired. Not very much of this was particularly original or exciting and I think Kai's voice may be wearing down a bit with age. This is just not really a band anywhere near the top of their game. The songs that really distinguish themselves are too few and really only come after I was already getting kinda bored with the album. It just took listening to too many bland songs before the album really made an impression at all. I can't really see myself listening to this album through much. If anything I could see me randomly throwing on the last couple of tracks on occasion. At it's heart most of this album is pretty generic power metal and there's not enough out of the vocals or the riffs to fully sell it.
Highlights: Hellbent, I Will Return
Rating - 2.5/5
