Izvajalec: Rage
Založba: Nuclear Blast
Izid: 2008
Ocena: 2/5
Rage. The new album “Carved In Stone”. Drummer Andre Hilgers (Axxis) is the band’s newest member, stepping in for his excellency Mike Terrana. Sounds like a tall order at first glance. But only at first glance, because Rage aren’t exactly Rush, who’d shut up shop the moment their drummer walked out the door.
Even “Speak of the Dead” (2006), the previous album, was suspiciously flirting with the old-school Rage of the nineties, but Rage still managed to hide it behind the curtain of a 20-minute epic suite. “Carved In Stone,” though, is Rage slipping back into their old shoes. But don’t get me wrong. The new album is light years away from the most authentic Rage fury of all Rage furies, “Black In Mind,” which the “Carved In Stone” marketing leans on to mislead buyers, claiming Rage haven’t made an album this hard since “Black In Mind.” What a whopping lie. Stylistically the new record is once again closer to “XIII” (1997) or “Ghosts” (1999), and at most in sound too, since the drums have lost quite a bit of dynamite. Still, Andre Hilgers is the right drummer for “Carved In Stone.” The wit and inventiveness, and even a certain dose of drum experimentation like we got with Terrana behind the kit, are sadly gone. Along with that goes the excellent, one-of-a-kind chemistry between Smolski and Terrana, in the weaving of guitar-and-drum solos, those virtuosic, breakneck and at times (even) unpredictable twists of juicy passages, whenever the conversation turned to their back-and-forth soloing firepower. Smolski has thus become the dominant force in generating the melodies across the board.
This new album is less interesting precisely because Terrana’s compulsory attention-grabbing is gone. The chewed-over Rage choruses of Without You, One Step Ahead, Mouth Of Greed and Long Hard Road stab you in the ears, because they offer too obvious a platform of power metal licks, which Rage in the Terrana era kept successfully smashing apart by shifting the focus to a slew of breakneck instrumental inserts in all sorts of transitions.
Of course, there’s still the one-of-a-kind Belarusian multi-instrumentalist, virtuoso, musical genius and miracle worker Victor Smolski, who is decisive in making sure Rage stay interesting enough to listen to, even with the new album. He’s too good a guitarist not to make full use of all his unique aces, which, thank God, the new Rage are still plenty full of.
The album’s strongest stretch is its opening, the first four tracks: the typically stubborn opening Rage barbecue of Carved In Stone, followed by Drop Dead! with its fierce, snappy chorus, then Gentle Murders, a truly convincing Rage blend of exceptional guitar rallying and the wildness of Peavy’s famous roar, and fourth in line, Open My Grave, with its oriental intro and one of the most interesting main riffs Rage have offered in their career, and for which the guys have already shot a video. Open My Grave is one of the album’s peaks. Add to that the equally standout Lord Of The Flies, placed at the end of the album, whose special atmospheric charm comes from a nicely matched duet between Peavy and singer Jen Majura. The remaining five tracks are completely average by Rage standards, and at the thought of the great Rage creations “Soundchaser” (2003) or “Unity” (2002), your hand just reaches for the CD shelf on its own to swap them in for “Carved In Stone” in the CD player.
“Carved In Stone” is certainly a very good album. Anyone who doesn’t know Rage will be thrilled with it. The guys still grind away excellently on it, so this album too stands fully behind the trademarks of the Rage sound and style. Hilgers is a nice fit, for the new Rage face, of course. Some of the wit and interest got lost in the trend of simplifying the expression, or the “back to the roots” turn, but we Rage fans from the Mike Terrana era will have to make our peace with that sooner or later.
Lineup
Peter Peavy Wagner – vocals, bass guitar
Victor Smolski – guitar, keyboards
Andre Hilgers – drums
Production
Victor Smolski & Peter Peavy Wagner
Tracklist
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
Album length: 47.53
