♫Getting Back to the Roots♫

Greetings faithful readers, and welcome back to another (far too long delayed) installment of Ear Worms, my music section of the site. While I'm sure most of you out there reading are already well ware of this fact, for all the newcomers to the blog, let me make in known once more that I am a long-time, dyed-in-the-wool, full-blown metal head. With that clarification out the of the way, let's just dive right in.

On February 2, 2017 I got to attend what has now been perhaps one of the best concert sets I've ever experienced to date. None other than the legendary vocalist, Udo Dirkschneider (former front-man to the iconic german heavy metal band Accept) was at my local venue (Baltimore Soundstage) for his Back to the Roots North American tour. Performing songs all over the classic Accept catalogue, this was a mandatory matter of attendance for a near life-long Udo/Accept fan such as myself. I knew full-well in my heart of hearts that I absolutely had to be at this concert regardless of circumstance. Otherwise I would've never been able to look at myself in the mirror or forgive the sin of skipping out on such an incredible opportunity to not only see Udo live, but singing the likes of 'Balls to the Wall' or 'Midnight Mover'.

Before Udo could take to the stage proper, we had a couple front liner bands to warm up the crowd, and I can gladly exclaim that neither of them disappointed. First up to bat was Mind Maze, a somewhat prog-edge power-metal band from out of Allentown, Pennsylvania. Up until now, I've never heard of them, but after their incredibly strong showing here, I'm more than willing to consider myself a burgeoning fan to their work. The singles 'Breaking the Chains' 'This Holy War' and 'End of Eternity' really resonated with me, and with the promise of a new album to come this April, I'd be a liar if I said I wasn't at least curious to see what was on offer.

Lead vocalist Sarah Teets has an immensely powerful tone to her voice that (for lack of a better description) simply beckons the soul to action. As the songs hit their crescendo, Sarah's cadence remained firm and unwavering, making for some truly inspiring sounds for each track played. The lead guitarist Jeff Teets absolutely slayed with his righteous riffs, and I could tell just from some of his stage antics that he without a doubt loves playing in front of people. Drummer Mark "Truk" Bennet played with expert timing, all the while seemingly trying to match Jeff for flourishes on display while playing, which to be frank, was actually quite fun to watch. Bassist Rich Pasqualone had a distinct rhythmic pulse to all the tracks, and while some in the crowd claimed that he sounded almost non-existent, I could feel his bass thumps in the souls of my feet, and I wear thick boots. Who knows, maybe it had a lot to do with me being right in the front row...?

If I had any real one complaint about their performance, it was that there were a few times Sarah and Jeff almost ran into one anther as they walked about, making for some slightly awkward pauses with the stage motion. Other than that, they killed it up there with an overall solid presence, and some super solid music, and that's all a metal-head like me could honestly ask for at the end of the day.

A Sound of Thunder rocks the Soundstage!

Next up was A Sound of Thunder, and I will once more disclose that I'm on friendly terms with two members of this band. Regardless of my personal connection though, I am first and foremost a fan of their music.

While I do attend their local shows to provide some level of support as a friend, my attendance has been mostly due to the simple fact that I just love watching them perform. Out of a lot of the local bands I've seen, A Sound of Thunder has possessed some of the most beautiful, and downright infectious chemistry/rapport with a crowd I've ever witnessed. They have always given it their all every time I've watched them, and this performance was no exception to that well established rule.

Once on stage, they kicked off with their resoundingly balls-out speed metal track 'Queen of Hell'. Lead singer Nina's blisteringly boisterous banshee wale remained as attention grabbing as it ever has, and it was a fantastic statement of intent for the set that was to come if there ever was one. Interestingly enough, I do think Nina has been working on her lower registers, as every time she had to touch on a more Baritone key, it was notably more textured than previous outings. 

Despite their somewhat short run-time, they did manage to get out some of their more recent and iconic tracks such as 'A Sound of Thunder' 'Tremble' and their totally kickass cover of Manorwar's 'Pleasure Slave', which the crowd ate up with much delight. Lead guitarist Josh continues to amaze me with his stunning fret-work, as some of the chords he cuts are stupid fast, and he makes them look insanely easy to pull off. The closing piece they played before yielding the stage was their biggest online hit 'Udoroth' which they confessed was deeply inspired by Udo Dirkschneider himself. While I would've liked to see more from A Sound of Thunder, it ultimately wasn't their show.

Unfortunately it wasn't much of Udo's show either for a bit, as there were some apparent technical difficulties with the sound system, which resulted in a bit of a delay for the concert. Even though it was only around a twenty minute postponement (which I personally didn't mind the break to be honest) sections of the audience started to become quite restless as time went on. Shouts and chants for Udo to take the stage only grew louder the longer they waited, and I heard over my shoulder how some of the fans were contemplating on demanding a refund and leaving the venue if things didn't change soon. Thankfully the sound did eventually come back up, and without any further disruption, Udo Dirkschneider and co. were in front of the crowd, large and in charge, ready to rock everyone's collective faces off.

Opening up with 'Starlight' and 'Living for Tonite' set the crowd ablaze in a matter of mere seconds, and it was only briefly after that intro did Udo take a moment to address his years-long absence from Baltimore before diving right into the next two songs 'Flash Rockin' Man' and 'London Leatherboys'. What really got my fist pumping though was when they started up 'Midnight Mover' followed immediately by 'Breaker'. The summary on the ticket stub sure as hell wasn't hoaxing when it read that Udo was going to be playing nothing but classic Accept from start to finish. For the next hour Udo dished out other awesome Accept tunes like 'Head Over Heels' 'Neon Night' 'Princess of the Dawn' 'Winter Dreams' 'Restless and Wild' and the ever iconic 'Son of a Bitch'.

Before I go any further into the set, I want to state for the record that I hope I'm still rocking out like Udo when I'm his age. Udo is currently sixty four years old, and even though we can sit back making a ton of jokes about his obvious weight gain, or just calling him "Old-man Udo" I want to point out that the dude still belts it out like it was 1986. Sure he doesn't strike as many badass/fabulous poses as he used to, and his overall stage presence isn't nearly as energetic as it once was, but the rest of the band more than makes up for it. His guitarists Andrey Smirnov and Kasperi Heikkinen dueled perfectly with one another, striking a ton of gloriously photogenic cock-rock poses for the crowd, never mind the occasional borderline-homoerotic interlocking poses they'd strike with Udo and bassist Fitty Wienhold throughout the set.

Andrey Smirnov is having a blast!

After a ludicrously small break, the band came back out on stage, dishing out the goods in full force. Tracks like 'Up to the Limit' 'Wrong is Right' 'Midnight Highway' 'Screaming for a Love-Bite' 'Monsterman' 'T.V. War' 'Losers and Winners' and my personal favorite Accept track 'Metal Heart' were all delivered in short order. To be blunt, this band had one mission after a their respite, and that mission was attack, attack, attack!

As the show began the process of exiting the midpoint, Udo and the band decided to play around with the audience for a little bit, with fun instances like Andrey showing off his superb guitar chops, or drummer Sven Dirkschneider going on a series of continuous rolls that would make any self-respecting percussionist nod in approval.

Of course all good things must eventually come to an end, no matter how metalliferously mighty it may be, and end it they f@cking did! In true metal fashion Udo and co. blew the roof off the building by closing out the show with Accept's biggest, most anthemic hits 'I'm a Rebel' 'Fast as a Shark' 'Balls to the Wall' and 'Burning'.

Getting to do the chorus chant to 'Balls to the Wall' at an Udo concert may go down as one of the most flat-out metal moments of my life, and it will live with me til I die or develop alzheimers. It's kinda funny though, because since the band was performing so spectacularly for close to a whole two hours, they almost couldn't get in a word edge-wise, let alone introduce some of the songs, because the Udo chants started to become too domineering. At one point it looked as if Udo was on the brink of tears, as I'm sure he was touched by the Baltimore fan's clear adoration for him, but I'm fairly certain he's too much of a heavy-metal badass to be even physically capable of crying.

In the end, this was without a doubt one of the best metal concerts I've ever attended, and despite the slight delay in getting Udo up on stage, this show was perfect from start to finish. Not only was the main attraction well worth the price of admission, but the front liners were also amazing, and before I could leave I knew I had to get my hands on the Mind Maze album Mask of Lies, and A Sound of Thunder's new Cover Album Who Do You Think We Are?

If anything else my only real gripe I took way from the event was that I couldn't get my hands on some of the downright kickass swag they had at the merch booth, like Udo's "only slightly used bathrobe" or Udo's actual stage gloves. What I had my eye on getting though was an autographed live CD album from Udo and the band, but those were apparently only limited to a grand total of ten copies available, so obviously those were sold out in mere seconds of the show wrapping.

Thankfully I decided upon hanging around for a few minutes after the crowds died down, and I was greeted by none other than bassist Fitty Wienhold. He asked me if I enjoyed the concert, to which I emphatically told him yes, which lead to me gushing in front of him for about a solid five minutes. I shared with him that this was my first Udo concert and that I really wanted something to commemorate the occasion.

It was then that he reached in his pocket and handed me his guitar pick. With a sly grin, Fitty told me "Those guys may have the album, but they aint got something like this!" Needless to say, I was left almost speechless, and as of this writing I'm still at a loss as to what I should do with the damn thing. Should I frame it? Use it for myself in the hopes that some of Fitty's powers reside in it and will transfer to me?

Putting hyperbole aside, only time will tell now if any other concerts I will attend in the future can ever openly compete with the ultimately unmatched Udo, as this show is now my gold standard measure for all the metal concerts to come. Sorry Blind Guardian, but Udo and the crew just simply killed it here. All the same, I can declare I'm officially satisfied with having had a front row seat to an experience that fundamentally amounted to Mr. Dirschneider's goodbye to a undeniable heavy-metal legacy that will hopefully never, ever be forgotten.

Thank you Udo! Rock on, and God Speed!

A much deserved bow to a mindblowingly awesome show!

P.S.- I do want to give a very special thanks to the Jim Powers youtube channel for providing such awesome footage of the concert.

♫A Look Into the Mirror♫

Once again I have found myself at my local concert venue, the Baltimore Soundstage for the second time in a month. This particular outing was to see the likes of the long lived legend that is Blind Guardian, with the special guest band Grave Digger. As it would turn out, Baltimore was the first stop on the list for Blind Guardian's: Beyond the Red Mirror North American tour and I couldn't be happier. To be quite honest, I'm surprised at not only how many Blind Guardian fans actually reside locally to me, but also how enthusiastic they would be to see these guys live. The Baltimore crowd gladly went on that journey beyond the mirror with Guardian, and took a nice long look at itself for good measure just to show it wasn't afraid of what it saw.

This was easily one of the best concerts I've been to in years, and yes my ears are still ringing from the superb bombast that is Blind Guardian's distinctive sound. For those not in the know, Blind Guardian is a melodic/progressive rock band hailing all the way from Germany. Their penchant for epic storytelling practically makes them like modern day bards (a title they openly embrace) and some of the most drama laden metal of today has come from them over the course of their fantastic thirty year career. If you can't tell by now, I'm a big big fan of theirs. In fact, I would say, next to the band Nightwish, Blind Guardian is one of my all-time favorite metal bands. 

I could gush on and on about these guys, but what I'm sure you all really want to know is all the little details of how this show went. First and foremost, before Blind Guardian could take the stage proper, the ever awesome Grave Digger came out to get the crowd warmed up. To any who may be wondering who these guys are, they're another German power-metal band, and that's a good thing. The best way to describe their sound would be to imagine if Megadeath sang about the likes of King Arthur (and to an extent Macbeth) and you've got a pretty good idea of what to expect. With kick-ass fist pumping tracks like 'Season of the Witch' 'Excalibur' and 'Heavy Metal Breakdown' it was nigh impossible to not get totally amped-up with these guys on stage. Vocalist Christ Boltendahl's voice (while not in perfect shape) boomed over the speaker system as the crowd lapped up guitarist Axel Ritt's sick chops. Stefan Arnold's drums were performed with perfect timing, and I'm fairly certain that I lost probably about ten pounds just from head-banging to their set alone.

Then it was time for Blind Guardian to step up, and the audience just became electric. I honestly felt an energy in the air with this concert, and I knew that this was going to be something to remember the moment things got underway.  Blind Guardian stood front and center, with an almost deafening dirge of adoring fans (myself included) and belligerently began to blow the roof off the place. Playing iconic hits from all across their storied discography, everyone sang along to the likes of 'The Last Candle' 'Imagination' and 'Tanelorn'. What made people go completely bonkers though was when they announced that they were doing another live album, and that they wanted to make Baltimore a part of the cut. Shortly after that they "left the stage" only to come back out and play the absolutely epic tracks 'Sacred' 'Mirror Mirror' 'Twilight of the Gods' and 'Valhalla'. To get an idea of the vibe the crowd had with these songs, I suggest watching/educating yourself with these videos here and here. Watch them all the way to the end because that's were the magic happens.

No joke, this is exactly what happened... and it was just as awesome as you would think it'd be!

To help bring things down to a nice simmer before they finally exited the stage a second time, they played perhaps one of their most famous songs 'The Bard's Song' to which the entire crowd joyously/tearfully joined in singing. It was surely a momentous occasion to say the least, and it's incredibly satisfying to know that, even after all these years, Blind Guardian still sound like they always have; amazing.

Lead singer Hansi Kürsch still possessed his trademark banshee scream for all of the high marks, and had an awesome rapport with the audience as a whole. It can't be stated enough of how fun it was to watch him live, as his energetic interactions with the fans were highly contagious. The guitar riffs of Andre Olbrich were just as fantastic here as they've ever been, and I would dare to make the argument that he may be better now than when the band first started. While drummer Frederik Ehmke may be the newest member, he has played with the band for a decade now and still delivered the goods where it counted. His distinguished double bass roll is the foundation power-metal has been fundamentally built upon, and I can only hope that he continues to stick with Guardian for the years to come.

Overall, I feel like my painfully short (but easy to digest) write-up here fails to truly describe what it was like to be there and witness this concert event up close and personal. If anything else, should the opportunity to see these guys live comes your way, I emphatically, and vociferously encourage you to do so. It will be a night you won't forget anytime soon, so look into that Red Mirror and dare to dream! 

♫Intimate Venues♫

It should probably come as no real surprise to most of you out there that I am, in fact, a bit of a rocker. With just one solid look over, most could probably/safely infer that I have a fairly deep love affair with the genre of heavy metal. You know, with the long hair/beard, and wearing nothing but black and all... Oddly enough, as it stands, I've never really been to all that many concerts in my time. I can count the amount of concerts I've been to in about the lower double digits. This is mostly in part due to my age (as I wasn't even born yet when most of my favorite bands were actually touring) and also having a distinct lack of personal funds to attend the ones that I could have.

Last night I got to attend a concert at one of my local venues, The Baltimore Soundstage. It's not a huge hall by any means, but it does provide a somewhat intimate space for the audience and the performers to occupy for a few hours. For locals (such as myself) it's a nice way to check out some of the native bands, as well as any talent that may be passing through. It's not often, but every once in a while we get a doozy of a band that shows up, and when that happens the sparks do indeed fly!

The band in question was the one, the only, Sanctuary, and yes, I do mean that Sanctuary.

Being joined by the amazingly talented front-man/singer (and my all around excellent friend) Joe Silver, we personally embarked on a close to four hour sonic sojourn that respectively rocked our collective socks off, while simultaneously kicking our balls thoroughly in. All hyperbole aside, it was a great time is fundamentally what I'm trying to get at here people...

Before Sanctuary could take the stage proper, we had a couple of front bands to get the crowd warmed up, and boy did they not disappoint. Kicking things off was a local band (out of Columbia Maryland) by the name of Burning Shadows. Truth be told, even though they didn't have their regular line-up for this show (as the drummer and bassist were last minute replacements) I honestly couldn't tell. Barring one slight mess up with one song for about ten seconds, these guys were on point and got everyone's blood pumping. I'm a bit of a sucker for the more mythic sounding prog-rock power bands (like Blind Guardian) and these guys are now no different. Their song 'The Last One to Fall' was absolutely epic in all sense of the word, and compelled me to purchase their album with that single on it almost immediately. The lead vocalist Tom Davy has an impressively deep and resonating tone, that honestly just fits the vibe of every track perfectly. These are the kind of folks that the Soundstage was built for, and I'm very much looking forward to seeing much more from these guys in the future.

Following up Burning Shadows was another (somewhat local) band called A Sound of Thunder. Before I go further, I think there is a needed bit of disclosure here, my friend Joe is actually good friends with the members of this band, and I've had the pleasure of meeting with them personally too, so take that as you may. Regardless of my own connections with the band, these guys (and gal) came out and rocked everyone's faces off. Within seconds of opening their set with the song 'Udoroth' they had a whole front line of headbangers. From there they played some tracks off of their latest album Tales from the Deadside which the crowd absolutely adored. The energy lead singer Nina exudes on stage is highly contagious, and her interaction with the audience is precisely the sort of stuff I love to see at concerts. Unfortunately they couldn't play but a handful of songs before they had to yield the stage to Sanctuary.

Once Sanctuary was front and center pretty much all bets were off. Even though I've only become a fan of these guy in the last couple years (due to an immensely emphatic Joe having me listen to their work) if I wasn't already a fan, this show would have most certainly converted me. Warrel Dane's voice (while not exactly in pristine shape) still enveloped the room, and Lenny Rutledge's guitar chops where so righteous that they made angels fall from heaven. The drums of Dave Budbill were so powerful I'm certain that people three blocks down the street were feeling his thunderous double bass. Sanctuary is definitely something to behold live, and getting to hear some of their classic songs like 'Soldiers of Steel' and 'Future-tense' along with their cover of 'White Rabbit' were all highlights I'm going to relish for years to come.

Nothing was greater though than getting to meet the band after the show wrapped up. As it turns out, Joe (who I mentioned earlier is a singer himself among other things) was very much inspired by Sanctuary/Nevermore in regards to even pursuing a career in music. Seeing Joe's face as he got to not only shake hands with Warrel Dane, but actually talk with him about music, singing, etc. etc. was like watching a child's face light up on Christmas morning. It's a moment I'm sure he'll never forget, and one I'm going to carry with me always.

Tragically it's nights like last night that make me wish I had a better camera (as the one on my phone couldn't pick up anything due to the low lighting) so I sadly cannot provide any pictures of what happened. Amusingly enough though, Joe changed his icon on facebook to the shot I took of him with Warrel Dane, so I guess that sort of counts...   

♫Black Rock Shooter: Music Video- Review♫

Black Rock Shooter, where have you gone?

The internet is an awesome thing! I'm sure most of you know this already, but I think the statement really does need some mentioning every now and again. I've been online since 1996, and if you got wired around the same time, then you've watched the landscape change substantially over the years like I have. While I don't always agree with every alteration made, I do find a lot of the changes and improvements we make to only be more and more impressive as time passes. It's amazing the things that the internet allows us to do today.

With the click of a mouse, or the typing of a few keys we can access almost incalculable troves of information instantly. People connect with one another in real time from almost anywhere in the world. We can literally watch an idea be born on the internet and flourish into something greater than anyone could ever imagine it being. Years ago something as massive and prevalent like Youtube (or video streaming in general) was just a pipe dream. Now people can share their content with the greatest of ease and at minimal cost.

One such product of the information age is Black Rock Shooter. Born on the internet as a simple music video (hosted on the Japanese streaming site Nico Nico Douga) Black Rock Shooter quickly became an online sensation back in June of 2008. Shortly after its Japanese debut it made the jump over here to the west, and while it wasn't quite as popular, it still became viral nonetheless. "How big of a sensation is it?" you ask. To put things into perspective, Black Rock Shooter has since become a major merchandising franchise that has produced a fifty minute OVA, an eight episode anime television series, a PSP game, two manga series, several music albums, and dozens of statues based off of the characters. That isn't counting the copious fan works the community creates on a near daily basis.

Contrary to the common belief surrounding it, Black Rock Shooter wasn't initially created as a music video from the start. It is also a fairly common misnomer that BRS is directly connected to the Vocaloid program Hatusne Miku. The character of Black Rock Shooter has always been, and will always be a separate entity from that franchise. Before Supercell (the band responsible for the song) ever came into the equation, Black Rock Shooter had its beginnings as just a simple character image drawn by an artist named Huke. Wanting to make a name for himeself, Huke conceived and submitted his work to the Japanese art sharing website Pixiv and his own personal blog.

The original concept for the character of Black Rock Shooter was shared with the world December 26th 2007 (along with several other related characters) to not much fanfare. A few months later Huke became a creative member of Supercell as their graphic designer and album artist. After joining the band, Huke's pieces would inspire Ryo (lead member of Supercell) to write a song about the character. Utilizing the Vocaloid program Hatusne Miku for the voice, Ryo's and Huke's collaborative efforts would eventually lead to them making the iconic music video and slightly changing Black Rock Shooter's design to be a homage to Hatsune Miku. From there its instant and highly viral success would cause the fictional universe of BRS to be expanded, as well as form the merchandising powerhouse it currently is.

If you couldn't tell by now, I'm a bit of a fan when it comes to Black Rock Shooter. While I will concede that it isn't the GREATEST TING EVARZ! I will say that it is a series of media that really manages to speak to a lot of my sensibilities. I'll admit that I'm an outright sucker for Huke's art style and design. His use of heavy blacks/whites, washed out selective color, and integrated patterns just catch my eye in a way that's difficult to describe. I guess I could say that it is essentially something that I feel like I would design, and that's why I love it so much. Having an entire music video, let alone an entire franchise built around Huke's aesthetics just works fine for me. The other aspect has to do with the fact that it was born on the internet. Part of me loves the fact that this was something that started out so small and now sits as a major multi-media establishment. Knowing that us netrunners had something to do with its success just puts a big smile on my face.

What stands above all other aspects though is the song's lyrical content. Thanks to the efforts of one youtuber Soundares (as well as others over the years) we have a fan translation of the original music video. I'll admit that it isn't the most perfect of translations, but in spite of some of the broken english, the meaning of the song still comes across well. The video and song tell the tale of a person who has lost someone (or possibly something) close to them known as Black Rock Shooter. They find that they're now aimlessly wondering through life, finding little motivation to keep going. Upon reflection of what Black Rock Shooter would think of their current state, they resolve to move forward in their life to make Black Rock Shooter proud. In so many ways this is a song about coming to terms with loss. Everyone to some degree has had a Black Rock Shooter in their own life, making for a song that is significantly endearing to an incredibly wide audience.

Of course on the opposite end of the spectrum, the lyrics could be seen as schmaltzy insipid cliche's that everyone says in songs like this, or of a similar nature. Honestly (and oddly enough when you take the time to consider the singer here isn't real) I think it's the emotion conveyed that resonates with so many people. There is a genuine quality to the sound of the song that almost feels like a good friend giving you one of the best reassuring hugs they can, telling you that everything is going to be alright as long as you work hard. Laying my cards on the table here, whenever I'm feeling a little down I'll pop this track up in my browser and come out feeling worlds better by the end of the song. For all intents and purposes I've taken the end of the song's advice and actually listen to this whenever I begin to forget the importance of letting go and moving on. Overall, it's just an uplifting/motivating piece that has helped pull me out of numerous funks.

While there is little to no real animation going on in the video, I'm actually rather glad for it. The vast portion of static scenes allow for the viewer to take in all of Huke's fantastic art, as well as experience a lot of the core emotions right up front. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and coupling these pictures with the words of the song, you can pull a pretty compelling story just from its four minute and fifty three second run-time. I'm personally fond of how a lot of the earlier shots simply show the character standing alone amid a barren landscape. It plays to the notions from the lyrics of how lonely one can feel after the loss of someone close. As the song progresses and the music picks up we see more and more color become injected into the frames and the character now moving forward in some way. All of this helps to symbolize the internal struggles one has when trying to move on in their life from a major loss.

Who knows, maybe I'm looking for something that isn't there, but it's subtlety like this in a music video that I absolutely admire. This is a video that can be just as entertaining as it is touching or motivating. In the end I recommend, if not outright encourage that everyone reading this review at least give the above video a shot. You may see what I see and really like it as I do, or you may just see a bunch of pictures with an auto-tuned robot clanking out some indecipherable mumbo-jumbo about some black rocks being shot or something.

Positive Factors

• Fantastic lyrical content and emotion that almost anyone can relate to on some level.
• A legitimately uplifting and motivating song that also is incredibly catchy.
• Spectacular art associated with the video. Huke's pieces are a feast for the eyes.
• Brilliant subtext throughout the video provides a nice bit of symbolism to anyone looking for it.
• One of the cooler things to have been born from the internet.

Negative Factors

• Not everyone is going to be on board for the Vocaloid singer, and the song could be seen as cliche'.

Final Rating: !!!AWESOMESAUCE!!!

♫Within Temptation: The Unforgiving- Review♫

"We are the things you see out of the corner of your eye."

Concept albums have always had a strong appeal to them that I just simply admire. For those not familiar with the term, a concept album is a collection of music that either tells a story through melody/song, or where all tracks on an album share an overall connection in theme. Every now and again musicians try their hand at a concept album, usually with varying results. As an avid fan of both storytelling and music, concept albums almost always have my attention in some degree or another.

When it was announced that Dutch symphonic/metal band Within Temptation was going to be releasing their first concept album in 2011 I was all ears. Having only just begun listening to the band about four years prior, I found myself immediately attached to their unique brand of music. Even though they had not yet done a concept album proper, the group always had a strong emphasis on story in their songs.

Within Temptation was first formed in 1996 by lead singer Sharon den Adel, and guitarist Robert Westerholt. Since the band's formation they've produced 5 studio albums, a live acoustic album, and a live concert album orchestrated by the Metropole Orchestra. They've been attributed as one of the fore-running bands of modern symphonic metal with a female lead singer. Their most notable releases have been the albums Mother Earth and The Silent Force. The single "Ice Queen" (their most successful single to date) is largely responsible for bringing them into public prominence in 2001 when it hit number 2 on Dutch charts.

The Unforgiving is an interesting piece to dissect due to its history. Originally the band wanted to write a soundtrack meant for a film, but instead opted for something within the realm of literature, as movies can fall into major delays. They were introduced to writer Steven O'Connel (Bloodrayne, Dark 48) who had actually failed to impress the band upon their first meeting, when he suggested doing a comic story involving zombies and fantasy. The band stated that they were looking for something more mature and meaningful than something they considered superficial and convoluted. Upon a second meeting though, O'Connel managed to impress them with an idea that would be about people who had done bad things in life, not because they themselves were bad, but because they had made bad decisions. The group loved the concept and gave the go ahead for writing to begin. With the story set-up in place, comic artist Romano Molenaar (Witchblade, The Darkness, X-Men) was attached to create art for the album cover/inserts, as well as sequentials for a comic tie-in.

Oh Snap!

Three short films were made around the album singles "Faster" "Sinead" and "Shot in the Dark." The group chose to do vignettes to better present the story, and to avoid the common restrictions associated with music videos. The first film titled Mother Maiden was released in January 2011 and featured "Faster" with the other videos set to follow in the coming months. Shot almost entirely in black and white, each video progressively revealed the story and characters, mostly set in flash-back scenarios. While featuring taboo topics such as domestic abuse, suicide, and drug addiction, they are addressed with a good deal of maturity and tact.

Set in modern times, an old woman known as Mother Maiden has been conducting a secret crusade against those she calls Dark Hearts ("a vile one who preys upon the innocent") for over the last few centuries. Under the guise of mythical beings, those in her employ are people who had died with regret or sin on their souls. She gives them a chance at redemption by hunting Dark Hearts so that they may find peace. The primary focus is on a particular agent, a single mother, Sinead who had died a prostitute feeding her drug habits.

While the story could be considered somewhat cliche' in nature to some, it is filled to the brim with a lot of deep heart felt emotion, and an interesting narrative setup. The character of Sinead feels appropriately tragic, and her quest for personal redemption was compelling in its presentation. The short films coupled with the special edition of the album were all engaging to watch and exhibited great cinematography, showcasing the narrative and band extremely well. As associative pieces to the album they only added to the overall experience The Unforgiving had to offer instead of making it.

This album does mark a change and departure in sound for Within Temptation. The heavy emphasis on bombastic symphonics that they have become known for has been noticeably diminished for a more diverse/contemporary formula, and this isn't exactly bad. Bringing in elements of 1980's synth pop-rock, high tempo symphonic metal, and hauntingly emotional power ballads, Within Temptation creates a uniquely cinematic roller-coaster effect. In fact I would even go so far as to say that The Unforgiving may very well be not only the band's most accessible album, but also their best album to date.

All three of the album's singles are incredibly catchy and memorable (and ironically enough radio friendly) with crunchy guitar chords built on high energy vocals. The talented (and very lovely) Sharon den Adel's voice is in top condition here, as she hits a wide range of powerful notes that literally sends chills up my spine every time I hear her sing them. Harder and heavier tracks such as "In the Middle of the Night" "Iron" and "A Demon's Fate" have quickly become what I consider to be a true example of a band achieving the ever so sought after "epic" sound/feel. They also stand as my personal favorite songs as I feel they are the truest to the band's older days while still keeping with great contemporary appeal. Power ballad pieces such as "Stairway to the Skies" and "Fire and Ice" have such passionate lyrics that the first time I heard them I'll admit that it felt like someone was cutting onions next to me. Within Temptation has proven with this album that they are not afraid of mixing their sounds and playing with their chemistry. Personally I couldn't be happier about them taking the chance on experimenting because this disc was an all around awesome listen from pretty much start to finish!

Great lyrical content and top notch art helps to further the cinematic/epic feel of the story.

That isn't to say that the album is perfect. Sadly The Unforgiving does have a track or two that falls a tad flat when considering how good the rest of it is. The song "Lost" just didn't resonate with me at any major point, nor did "Murder" or the bonus track "Utopia." I'm not saying that the pieces are particularly bad, they're just not nearly as memorable when compared to the likes of the rest of the album. Thankfully the strengths far outweigh the weaknesses here and none of the scores feel like they break the CD's pace. Despite the few small hiccups, I would say that if you find yourself on a extended road trip this would make for a good traveling soundtrack.

More old-school Within Temptation fans may be turned off by the band's adjustments in sound. While I do feel they have managed to retain their overall vibe, some may see this as the album where the band "sold-out" by going for a more mainstream appeal. Honestly though I think The Unforgiving works as an excellent gateway for new fans to discover the group and maybe even get into their previous work. By having the more varied approach the buy in for new listeners doesn't seem as large or risky.

The beautiful artwork of Romano Molenaar I feel deserves special mention as it can be found throughout the entirety of The Unforgiving's packaging. His sleek/dark vision of the characters really helps to further sell the ideas set up in the story and it has me very interested in reading the comic tie-in. The choice to go with a more sketchy design on the inserts is something I'm rather fond of as well, and it made going through the case's contents a very visually pleasing experience.

Bonuses on the special edition DVD were brief but informative. They go over the making of the short films, and the formation of the story to a very minor extent. I felt a more in depth look at the storyline or sister comic would have made the extra features more complete, but what was done was serviceable. Other bonus tracks such as "I Don't Wanna" "The Last Dance" and "Empty Eyes" were all fine tunes that gelled quite well with the album's themes. While none of them were as iconic as the dedicated tracks they were still a good listen.

Behold the band!

Overall, as a first attempt at a true concept album I feel Within Temptation has passed with flying colors. Granted some tracks do fall a little flat when compared to the other amazingly awesome scores, but at no point does the album feel like it breaks pace with its story or theme.

While some old school Within Temptation followers may be turned off by the switch in their sound, I think this album will only serve as a great gateway into the band's discography for newer fans.

The story can be seen as a fairly formulaic one, but is still emotionally compelling, with a unique premise to boot. Due to the evocative short films and the gorgeous album artwork I definitely have an interest to read further into the tie-in material for the mythology and the characters. So in that regard the album is a success.

I can honestly say that The Unforgiving is a great CD from a wholly solid band. On more than one occasion I've found myself listening to the disc from beginning to end just because I enjoyed it so much. Speaking as a child of the 1980's I can honestly say that its rockin' 80's vibe really got me jamming out to some of its tunes. Sometimes you just can't go wrong with 80's rock!

Positive Factors

• Strong mix of sounds bring out a unique and cinematic feel to the album's story.
• Legitimately interesting and emotionally compelling characters/plot.
• Catchy/iconic lyrics coupled with high energy instrumentals and passionate vocals for almost every song.
• Awesome short films and gorgeous album artwork only add to the overall feel instead of making it.
• Change in the band's formula makes for a very accessible album to new fans, while still feeling true to their original style.

Negative Factors

• A few tracks fall flat when compared to the much stronger ones. Not bad, just not memorable.
• Old-school Within Temptation fans may scream betrayal at the shift in sound.
• Bonus materials could've gone deeper into the content of the album.

Final Rating: Splenderiffic!