Rebellion - Arminius: Furor Teutonicus

Power Metal
Massacre Records

2012

1. Rest In Peace
2. Ala Germanica
3. Prince Of The Cheruscer
4. Dusk Awaiting Dawn
5. Breeding Hate
6. The Seerless Tower
7. Varus
8. The Tribes United
9. Ghost Of Freedom
10. Furor Teutonicus
11. Vae Victis
12. Requiem

Rebellion are a band I've pretty much enjoyed from the beginning. I can't say they've ever really earned favorite status or been a Top album producer for me, but not every band can be the best band in the scene. What I have enjoyed is Uwe Lulis continuing the sort of epic flair he largely brought to Grave Digger with a new band. There in lies my cause for concern with Arminius though. Uwe Lulis, Simon Wenzel and Gerd Lucking all left the band between the last album and this one. Major lineup changes are generally a cause for concern and this is certainly no exception. A founder and songwriter leaving is particularly concerning.

Well, not many bands can survive a change like this I suppose and I'd put Rebellion in the 'on life support' category. This isn't terrible, but it's pretty average for the most part. Too often the riffs just kind of chug along with no energy, the choruses aren't sufficiently epic or powerful, and few of the songs are all that memorable. From the start, Rest In Peace, creeps along like the band has been hit by tranquilizer darts. Not sure who decided to put such a plodding, zero energy track as an album opener, but that was a pretty bad call. Then again, most of this album does settle into kind of a low energy pace that is to it's detriment.

Arminius does have some (minor) moments like the good singing in The Seerless Tower that makes it a bit more epic sounding and the pure heaviness of Breeding Hate, but all in all the album falls short. Even these are more the best of the bunch than true highlights when judged versus their past material. I just can't find a lot to be excited about in the songwriting and Arminius, despite somewhat similar lyrical content, fails to be as epic as the Viking trilogy. A similar sound and approach just can't cover up the lack of truly noteworthy songs.

Rebellion are just left on uncertain ground after the loss of Uwe Lulis and this album. Arminius isn't a very memorable album and Rebellion sounds like a band without a songwriter. This might be worth it if you Really want something new in the Rebellion/Grave Digger vein, but I wouldn't really recommend this one.

Highlights: The Seerless Tower, Breeding Hate

Rating - 2.5/5

Rebellion - Arise: From Ginnungagap To Ragnarok

Power Metal
Massacre Records

2009

1. War
2. Arise
3. Asgard
4. Odin
5. Runes
6. Bolverk
7. Thor
8. Evil
9. Loki
10. Prelude
11. Ragnarok
12. Einherjar

Rebellion are a band who I've enjoyed everything they've done up to this point so this new album was a sure listen for me. I wouldn't call them a favorite band exactly, but not every band can be at the top. What I would call Rebellion is very enjoyable and I've particularly liked the epic and heavy slant of their History of the Vikings trilogy up to this point.

Arise basically follows the same sort of formula as the last couple, but it does seem to favor an even more direct and heavy approach than the other two in the trilogy. It seems like this one just kinda hammers away and doesn't have a lot of the cleaner singing, standout epic choruses, variation, or really memorability. There's never a time in this album where I don't like what I'm listening to but there are a whole lot fewer albums where I love it. Basically, what I'm hitting at is this album is lacking in highlights and seems to settle into a sort of business as usual trend. The one huge exception is the title track Arise which I absolutely love. Unfortunately it is the exception though and not the rule. If all the songs were on the level of Arise with it's great melodies and piano lead in then this review would be a different story. Prelude is also worthy of mention as having a pretty solid build up to a nice heavy sounding chorus.

The bottom line is this is pretty good, but less than I expected. I don't see this one as a top shelf release, but nor do I think it's not worthy of a listen. If you're into heavy epic metal in the vein of the epic fantasy/history era of Grave Digger than this is worth giving a listen.

Highlights: Arise, Prelude

Rating - 3.0/5

Rebellion - Miklagard

Power Metal
Massacre Records

2007

1. Vi seglar mot Miklagard
2. Sweden
3. Free
4. On the Edge of Life
5. Ulfberth
6. The Rus
7. Kiew
8. Aifur
9. Taste of Steel
10. God of Thunder
11. Our Backs to the Wind
12. Miklagard
13. The Uprising

Miklagard marks the 4th release by this german power outfit and the second part of the History Of The Viking series. Certainly appropriate lyrical material for this german warrior music. Uwe Lulis brings the same epic touch to this band that he brought to Grave Digger during his stay. In fact, it was largely disagreement over that epic history & fantasy approach that led to his departure and the creation of Rebellion.

On this album Rebellion pretty much continues with the standard set on the first part of The History Of The Vikings. Upbeat german power metal with chainsaw-like riffing that recalls Grave Digger makes up the bulk of this album. Vocally Grave Digger comes to mind as well, but while Michael Seifert sounds gruff a lot of the time he can also sing cleanly and with a range. This is of great benefit to the band imo as it tends to make their music sound less stagnant than Grave Digger has become and offers more songwriting possibilities. While some might be quick to place the term 'clone' on this band I would not call them that by any means. Uwe Lulis was instrumental in crafting this sound in the first place and does take it beyond just the Grave Digger sound. Certainly they can sound similar, but both have a place in the metal world in my book. A part of me wishes Uwe Lulis and Grave Digger could be one unit again, as that's when most of my favorite GD music was made, but Rebellion are a damn good band in their own right. I know I'm drawing a lot of comparison here, but really it's unavoidable.

Basically, if you like Grave Digger during the Uwe Lulis era than you'll probably like this too. To me this is kind of where Grave Digger should be right now. It may be this band even proves themselves superior to Grave Digger with time considering the vocal limitations in that band. Any way you slice it though, this is a solid listening experience for people who like heavy, direct german styled power metal.

Highlights: Miklagard, The Uprising, Sweden

Rating - 3.5/5

Rebellion - Sagas Of Iceland

Power/Heavy Metal
Massacre

2005

1. In Memorandum Lindisfarnae
2. Ynglinga Saga (to Odin We Call)
3. The Sons of the Dragon Slayer (Blood Eagle)
4. Ragnhild's Dream
5. Harald Harfager
6. Eric the Red
7. Freedom (the Saga of Gang Hrolf)
8. Treason
9. Sword in the Storm (the Saga of Earl Hakon)
10. Blood Rains (the Saga of King Olaf Trygvason)
11. Ruling the Waves
12. Canute the Great (the King of Danish Pride)
13. Harald Hadrade

Formed out of the split of Grave Digger after Excalibur, Rebellion has adopted much of the sound that band developed starting with the Tunes Of War release. Primarily the band of original GD guitarist, Uwe Lulis, it is no suprise that the signature Grave Digger guitar chops are here and Uwe has even gone so far as recruiting a vocalist very similar to Boltendahl in his rougher sound. Rebellion's vocalist, Michael Seifert, is clearly the more talented clean singer however.

This album isn't a huge change from the previous two Rebellion albums, but it probably has more in common with the debut then Born A Rebel. Born A Rebel had more of a straight forward nature in both lyrics and music and this one finds Rebellion once again taking on epic music in both lyrical themes and sound. There are a couple spoken interludes which break the flow of the music and come off as a slight annoyance, but they're nowhere near as frequent as on the debut and that's definetely a good thing. There's probably a bit more clean vocals on this album then previous releases, but there's still plenty of rough deliveries and any fan of the band should be well satisfied.

Basically any fan of Grave Digger's epic material should like this as it's essentially an extension of that band's sound. Really anyone into heavy germantic metal and warrior sort of lyrics should find this heavy slice of viking worship pleasing.

Highlights: Canute The Great, Eric The Red, Raghild's Dream

Rating - 3.5/5