Rage - 21

Power Metal
Nuclear Blast

2012

1. House Wins
2. Twenty One
3. Forever Dead
4. Feel My Pain
5. Serial Killer
6. Psycho Terror
7. Destiny
8. Death Romantic
9. Black And White
10. Concrete Wall
11. Eternally

Rage are simply put one of the cornerstones of German power metal and are just iconic for people into the scene. The holy trinity of Rage, Running Wild, and Grave Digger have always gotten a good amount of listening from me and of course a new album from any of them gets my attention. Not to mention I have very much enjoyed the last couple from Rage.

Going into this one I did have a shred of doubt however. Listening to the title track and lead off single Twenty One really didn't do much for me. Hearing that one I just got an impression of forced heaviness. The song simply doesn't sound natural or right for the band with it's jarring attempts at speed and odd break downs. I basically reserved judgment though as it wasn't Bad and it's not unknown for a band to just pick a weaker track for a single.

Unfortunately, this is not just a case of a weak single. The best description I can possibly give of this album is 'in one ear and out the other'. The best moment of Twenty One seriously comes in the form of a redo of Eternally from the Nuclear Blast Allstars album and the other version was better. Kind of a sad statement.

The problem here just seems to be Rage trying to reach outside their recent formula that they've found with Smolski and not grasping anything new. Unless you want to call just not being as inventive with the guitar leads and not as powerfully melodic with the choruses something new. I just found it hard to latch onto anything here. None of these songs are bad, but not a single one is better than not bad either. At times the kind of blunt/forced heaviness shows up again on tracks like Serial Killer and Forever Dead, but mostly the songs just seem phoned in.

Twenty One is one of those albums that never does anything outlandishly wrong and it's a decent enough listen, but it never hits it home either. Basically, I'm inclined to call this a filler album which will be OK for Rage fans, but it's the band at nowhere near their best. I don't think this album has a worthy single or live addition on it really. Overall, this still sounds like Rage and that puts it slightly above average, but it is a below average release for the band. Not sure what went wrong here, but it seems like a case of them trying to fix what wasn't broken.

Highlights: Eternallly

Rating - 3.0/5

Rage - Strings To A Web

Power Metal
Nuclear Blast

2010

1. The Edge Of Darkness
2. Hunter And Prey
3. Into The Light
4. The Beggar's Last Dime
5. Empty Hollow
6. Empty Hollow II: Strings To A Web
7. Empty Hollow III: Fatal Grace (Interlude)
8. Empty Hollow IV: Connected
9. Empty Hollow V: Empty Hollow (Reprise)
10. Saviour Of The Dead
11. Hellgirl
12. Purified
13. Through Ages
14. Tomorrow Never Comes

If you want to talk about a productive band, talk about Rage. This one marks their 18th full length studio album (and that's if you're not counting Avenger before the rename). It's really pretty amazing they've managed to put out that amount of material and are still considered one of the tops of german power metal. To me, it is also richly deserved as they are one of my favorite bands and I always look forward to new Rage. Their last one got a good grade from me and I was certainly hoping for more.

Upon initially listening to this one I was a little thrown. Not that this is all that different from what Rage has been doing in recent years, but the sound of the choruses on this one seems to be pretty ultra happy. Yeah they usually do the big melodic choruses, but these seem a little sugary sweet at times. I'd classify this as a sort of speed bump to my enjoyment of the album. It didn't really last and upon repeated listens I found this album and the sound of it grew on me quite a bit. Initially, I was ready to chalk this one up as simply good, but not as good as Carved In Stone. However, after letting the songs sink in I'd say this album is at least as good as the last. There's still a great number of standout tracks here and I found picking the highlights difficult.

The signature of Rage and what has made their Smolski-era albums great is definitely still here. From Peavy you get that tremendous sense of melody and build up in the vocals to the chorus and from Smolski you get an ever changing bag of riffs. I always like how Smolski never really settles on one basic riff to a song and adds a lot of little variations. After sort of adjusting to the sound of the choruses too, they are quite catchy and well delivered if Maybe just a little poppy at times. I remember when I first heard Into The Light I wasn't sure what to make of it, but now it's one of my favorite songs here so that just gos to show you how this album played out for me. Worth noting as well is the center piece which is familiar for newer Rage in that they always like to visit the classical side for at least one track. Empty Hollow, a multi-track affair is a damn well executed one and one of my favorites found here. A lot of this is a largely instrumental affair with Fatal Grace being piano driven and Strings To A Web being mostly guitar oriented, but it is also punctuated by a great slow down, melodic track in Connected, and heavy symphonic goodness in Empty Hollow and the reprise.

In conclusion, this is another damn fine album from a band who's made a lot of them. Not really a wonder to me why this band continues to be one of my favorites. There's still a lot of life in this band and they are simply put, one of the defining bands of the power metal genre. Absolutely recommended to Rage fans and really any fans of the heavy german power metal style.

Highlights: Empty Hollow, Into The Light, Hunter And Prey, Hellgirl

Rating - 4.0/5

Rage - Carved In Stone

Power Metal
Nuclear Blast

2008

1. Carved In Stone
2. Drop Dead
3. Gentle Murders
4. Open My Grave
5. Without You
6. Long Hard Road
7. One Step Ahead
8. Lost In The Void
9. Mouth Of Greed
10. Lord Of The Flies

After the very disappointing Speak Of The Dead with all it's unsuccessful classical experimentation and afterthought/by numbers Rage songs I've really been waiting for my Rage fix. With the song Terrified on Nuclear Blast Allstars being damn good I did have some hopes going into this one that they wouldn't make the same mistake twice.

Rage fans need not be worried as this is Rage back in the mold they're good at as this album is pretty much no frills, straight up heavy metal with balls and a fair amount of speed. Actually the speed is one of the first things that caught my attention. There's definitely still a lot of groove like in most modern Rage but after the melodic intro riff of the title track for instance there is some speed riffing that really reminds me of something Older from the band. The track as a whole is interesting with it's melodic intro sounding like something out of a fantasy power metal album and a pretty big and epic chorus. The song in general has a lot of character and has to be my favorite track on the release.

The reminders of older Rage don't end with this track in the guitar as songs like Gentle Murders also rip with speed and as a whole Carved In Stone reminds me of the modern Soundchaser/Unity sound but with more focus on speed guitar and some The Missing Link/a bit of Trapped! influence. This sound is certainly good by me and offers enough diversity from the past two albums as to not sound like a rehash. The big melodic choruses are still there, but now some of the songs don't seem quite as built around them and I like that.

Other songs worth noting include one ballad Without You which works really well in my opinion and comes across as emotional & heartfelt and Lord of the Flies which brings a bit of the classical/operatic feel into the mix but in a good and dark way without taking things away from the metal sound of it. This song is a real highlight as it does sound huge and powerful.

In conclusion, this is another worthy addition to the Rage catalogue and the band seldom disappoints. Rage just need to watch that they don't get too experimental with this whole classical fixation sometimes.

Highlights: Carved In Stone, Lord Of The Flies, Gentle Murders, Without You

Rating - 4.0/5

Rage - Speak Of The Dead

Power/Orchestral Metal
Nuclear Blast

2006

1. Morituri Te Salutant (Instrumental)
2. Prelude Of Souls (Instrumental)
3. Innocent
4. Depression (Instrumental)
5. No Regrets
6. Confusion (Instrumental)
7. Black (Instrumental)
8. Beauty
9. No Fear
10. Soul Survivor
11. Full Moon
12. Kill Your Gods
13. Turn My World Around
14. Be With Me Or Be Gone
15. Speak Of The Dead

From the moment I heard what this new album's focus, I became immediately nervous about the what the result would be. This album's front half was told to be focused around the orchestral end of their style, which largely led to a decline in popularity for the band. Them moving back in a more direct power sound is what brought about a rebound for the band so, to say the least, this seemed a questionable move.

Well it seems my doubts were well justified after listening to this release. Instrumental after boring instrumental bog down the opening third of the album which is the 8 part 'Suite Lingua Mortis'. The actual songs aren't much better either as the riffs seem like an afterthought compared to the orchestration. Much like their other orchestra backed material these songs just lack punch and the fact that 5 out of 8 tracks are utterly dull instrumentals makes a good third of the album make me want to go to sleep. This part of the album has some good singing, but all in all I've got to call it a throw away. I don't think I will ever want to hear the Lingua Mortis Suite again after I am finished with this review.

The rest of the album is more like what you might expect of Rage. Upbeat power metal in a style that mostly resembles Unity and Soundchaser. The problem here is that the riffing doesn't seem as interesting and varied and the songwriting is lackluster. Simply put, this sounds like left overs and that the band was more interested in their supposed classical opus. If track 9 to 15 were the entire album it could pass for a decent, if unremarkable Rage album. With a 1/3 of the album being completely boring though and the rest seeming lacking I can't give this one much of a grade. The later part is ok, but just doesn't make up for the failure of the first part. After Soundchaser this album has to be considered a huge disappointment.

Highlights: Speak Of The Dead, Full Moon

Rating - 2.0/5