Label: SPV/Steamhammer Records
Release date: March 29, 2024
Production: Rage & Peavy Wagner
Album length: 94 min.
Genre: Heavy Metal / Power Metal
Rating: 9.0/10
Rage are true veterans of European metal, with a pedigree that’s practically fossilized by now. They kicked off 40 years ago under the name Avenger and dropped their studio debut “Prayers Of Steel” in 1985. Then they switched to Rage and racked up 24 more studio albums. With the latest, “Afterlifelines”, that makes 26 in total. And Afterlifelines is really two albums in one. The first is “Afterlife”, the second “Lifelines”.
Rage have been evolving. Constantly. Through all four decades of the band’s existence. That’s why the group is marked by several different eras, noticeably varied in musical direction. Credit goes to the lineup shuffles, especially on guitar, and also to band boss Peter ‘Peavy’ Wagner’s eternal love for fusing elements of classical music with Rage heavy metal. So true fans and connoisseurs of the band can surely tell you exactly which era delivered their personal favorite albums. The 26th studio album didn’t come without a lineup change either, following the more-than-excellent predecessor “Resurrection Day” (2021, RockLine review). For the new record, Rage went from a quartet back down to a trio. Guitarist Stefan Weber left the band, and Peavy kept guitarist Jean Bormann and Greek-born drummer Vassilios “Lucky” Maniatopoulos at his side. Lucky joined Rage back in 2015 (before that, he spent many years as drum tech for the legendary Chris Efthimiadis, who played with Rage between 1987 and 1999)!
‘Peavy’ is the indispensable link that always has to be there. He’s the eternal Rage vocalist (and bassist). His voice is recognizable in a heartbeat, which makes it an essential element, a core trademark that Rage simply have to have. And “Afterlifelines” is an album that’s retrospective in a way, when you look back at the substance of past Rage albums.
The first LP is called “Afterlife”, and on it Rage play in their well-known, ‘primordial’ stance, meaning a very direct musical posture that this trio is famous for. It’s closest to the stance of its predecessor “Resurrection Day”, but it doesn’t hide its meaningful associations with older albums either, even if we travel back through the years all the way to the cult “Perfect Man” (1988). The second LP is called “Lifelines”, and on it Rage once again combine their expressive heavy metal stance with orchestral elements. That makes the two albums noticeably different. This is neither “Speak of The Dead” (2006) nor “Thirteen” (1998). All in all, “Afterlifelines” is a beast of its own kind.
If we linger on the first LP, “Afterlife”, Rage serve up a fierce fistful of fast-spinning heavy metal shrapnel, commanded by the indestructible ‘Peavy’ with his incredibly well-preserved voice. With its aggressive attitude (slightly guttural), and a supremely confident delivery loaded with emotion and passion that adds an important dark, villainous and occult note to the record, his voice is the main creator of the band’s musical character, which is very elemental yet absolutely unique! Despite the new bag of excellent guitar phrases that grab you instantly and Lucky’s top-notch drumming, there’s simply no way to imagine Rage, in one form or another, without the theatrical ‘Peavy’ and his restrained vitality.
The production is top-notch! Alive! Filled out with contrast. Voluminous, rattling bass lines, Lucky’s cannon-fire drum barrages, and the excellent Jean Bormann’s refined feel for insanely catchy guitar harmonies, varied ornaments, frothing solo spots and, most importantly, phrases that grab you from the first listen and are Rage from head to toe. Rage the way we love them best. In that respect Rage sound noticeably more musical on the new release than on the no-less-good predecessor Resurrection Day. Peavy also often goes for noticeably more pompous and predatory chorus melodies, which means these songs will work great on tour, too. Rage stay nicely bristling, bite relentlessly, and at times their beastly attitude drives the musical wheels toward a bit of a thrashed-out edge, all while delivering a fine harvest of catchiness the whole way through.
The second LP, “Lifelines”, doesn’t (don’t worry) negate the band’s (expressive) bristling edge. Strings and piano creep into the arrangements, but the tracks Cold Desire, Root Of Our Evil, Curse The Night, One World and It’s All Too Much don’t tone down the band’s charging and raging, even though the soundscape of these songs is enriched with added string orchestrations. Even on this part of the album, Rage stay front and center as a trio. We’re a third of the way through the new release, or more precisely halfway through the second LP. It’s incredible how Rage managed to scatter so many ideas in such a short time and develop them into richly seasoned, polished compositions. There’s hardly anything you could take away or add. This is a pure-blooded Rage opus, convincing in its bristling edge (the zeal of the performance), its wonderfully inspired variety of ideas, its excellent dark and fast-flowing dynamics, and its skillful tightrope walk between dazzlingly robust aggression and an internalized sense of ridiculously catchy musicality.
The grand finale of this album and its compositional peak is, of course, the epic suite (if you have the double LP, that’s the whole of side D). The tracks Dying To Live (released as one of the album’s three singles), The Flood, Lifelines, Interlude and In The End ‘flow into one another’, are linked together, and actually work like a composition over 20 minutes long (a mini epic suite). Within the arrangements of this 20-minute serpent, full of mood swings, the orchestral arrangements and the acoustic elements come through more and more and step into the foreground, and ‘Peavy’ delivers a somewhat softer vocal character, though it has to be added that melancholy and anguish by no means bow to this approach. A grandiose, even moving atmosphere! A maneuver that’s neither new nor unknown to this band, but served up a little differently again, freshened up, still untested!
“Afterlifelines” is an excellent new achievement from a legendary band. Fans of all this band’s tricks and magic will take it as their own right away. It’s polished, inspired, and juggles some well-known elements the band has tried out many times along the way, deftly ‘repackaging’ them, so it speaks in a mildly retrospective and nostalgic voice while delivering an exceptional dose of fresh inspiration, with which “Afterlifelines” confirms that the legendary Peter ‘Peavy’ Wagner is nowhere near done and that this artist’s head still hides plenty of interesting ideas he wants to realize in the band’s mature era. And that’s very good. “Afterlifelines” is an album ‘tremendously’ packed with musical information, with substance. Despite the proven formula that defines the face and work of Rage, this is a record more than 94 minutes long that delivers a serious bone to gnaw on. A monument you have to discover bit by bit. Over many spins. With each one it grabs you more and more. May it stay that way!
Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Tracklist:
“Afterlife” – CD1:
1. In The Beginning
2. End Of Illusions
3. Under A Black Crown
4. Afterlife
5. Dead Man’s Eyes
6. Mortal
7. Toxic Waves
8. Waterwar
9. Justice Will be Mine
10. Shadow World
11. Life Among The Ruins
“Lifelines” – CD2:
1. Cold Desire
2. Root Of Our Evil
3. Curse The Night
4. One World
5. It’s All Too Much
6. Dying To Live
7. The Flood
8. Lifelines
9. Interlude
10. In The End
Lineup:
Peter ‘Peavy’ Wagner – vocals, bass guitar
Jean Bormann – guitar
Vassilios ‘Lucky’ Maniatopoulos – drums, backing vocals
Lingua Mortis Orchestra:
Marco Grasshoff – piano, additional orchestral arrangements
Aland Kalaf – violin
Sebastian Weibels – violin
