Rise To Glory

Author: Aleš Podbrežnik

Artist: Loudness
Label: Ear Music Records
Release: 2018
Length: 61:13
Rating: 4/5

Here it is. The 27th studio album from the legendary Japanese hard rockers, or classic heavy metallers if you prefer, Loudness, called »Rise To Glory«! Going by the title alone, it promises a kind of renaissance, an awakening, a rejuvenation of the band. But let’s take it from the top. First, a few pointers for anyone who might not know the band all that well.  You don’t mess with Loudness.  They count as one of the most important classic heavy metal bands Japan gave us in the eighties. Let’s say that together with Anthem and Japan X, Loudness made up a kind of »holy trinity« of Japanese metal. Their lineup features the best guitarist of his time and generation, no question, the out-of-this-world guitar Hercules Akira Takasaki, a player who inspired guitarists like Paul Gilbert (Mr. Big, solo) and Marty Friedman (solo, ex-Megadeth), among others.

The band got back together in its classic lineup in 2001, and since then barely a year goes by without Loudness putting out a studio album. So why are we only reviewing »Rise To Glory« now? Because the band has finally managed to break into the European market in a serious way and sign with earMUSIC Records, so this album is also coming out on the soil of the old continent. Sure, the best days, or let’s just say the heyday, of the band are long behind them, but the new record is nothing to shrug off or pick apart. It keeps up the energy and the essence of the songwriting of the post-reunion era, carried over from album to album since 2001, and at the same time it channels the band’s one-of-a-kind, instantly recognizable character, already defined back in the golden age of the eighties.

»Rise to Glory« delivers a batch of twelve new tracks that keep the quality high and the creative fire burning, along with the band’s recognizable character in its mature years. Loudness have definitely become more down-to-earth with age, coaxing a noticeably bigger dose of gloom out of their songwriting, and they don’t hold back on social criticism in the lyrics either (Why And For Whom?), something they didn’t shy away from in the eighties, either.  

Over their long-running career, Loudness have tried quite a lot musically. On their nineties albums they leaned heavily on the grunge that was popular at the time, and the music even picked up a pinch of world music. After the reincarnation of the classic lineup, Loudness of course sound much closer again, in style and energy, to the eighties. Still, the songs on »Rise To Glory« show a good deal of variety among themselves. After the mystical intro of 8118, the album shoots upward with the back-to-back demolition catalysts Soul On Fire and I’m Alive, followed by Go For Broke, with one of the album’s most striking riffs, a somewhat calmer composition where  Takasaki really stretches out and once again stuns with his guitar wizardry. The album settles down through Unitl I See the Light and The Voice, then boils over again with Massive Tornado,  with a »shred« riff and incredible sharpness that, with a bit more rhythmic speed, could touch the border of thrash metal. The excellent instrumental Kama Sutra flips the mood and shows the band’s experimental side, with Akira Takasaki back in the spotlight, stunning us once more with his guitar escapades and his shrewdly inventive handling of all sorts of guitar ornaments and transitional details. In the second half, the more interesting tracks include the dark Why And For Whom and the closer Rain, which has a distinctly neoclassical gaze, with elements of Eastern melody even creeping in at the start.   

Minoru Niiihara has surely lost some vocal breath and range over the years, but his voice is still the recognizable trademark of Loudness’s music on the new album. He keeps the authority, the dominance and the required explosiveness, even in the higher registers. His distinctively raspy voice holds on to all its character and uniqueness, the kind where you know right away that you’re listening to the finest incarnation of Loudness.

»Rise To Glory« is, all in all, an exceptionally fine, high-quality album from Loudness in the mature era of their career. It keeps the exemplary songwriting power and strong sense of direction of guitarist and band leader Akira Takasaki, who is backed by a bombastic, explosive rhythm section, with a uniquely special and piercingly distinctive voice putting the dot on the »i« of the guitar phrases throughout. That’s how Loudness keep the real fire and expressive appeal alive in new times too, even if they can no longer match the brilliance of the classic eighties albums. The heart, the commitment and the focus are all here.  And that keeps the band young and potent, and “pleasantly crazy.”

The European edition of the album comes with a bonus CD called “Samsara Flight,” a collection of 13 newly recorded classics from the band (originally released in Japan last year for the band’s 35th anniversary). That’s a very welcome move for everyone who has a hard time getting hold of physical copies of the band’s older albums.

Loudness will play the Metaldays festival in Tolmin for the second time this year, so don’t let this chance to catch the cult Japanese metal act on stage slip through your fingers. 

Lineup

Minoru Niihara – vocals
Akira Takasaki – guitar
Masayoshi Yamashita – bass
Masayuki Suzuki – drums

Production

Loudness

Tracklist

1. 8118 (Instrumental)
2. Soul on Fire
3. I’m Still Alive
4. Go For Broke
5. Until I See the Light
6. The Voice
7. Massive Tornado
8. Kama Sutra (Instrumental)
9. Rise to Glory
10. Why and For Whom
11. No Limits
12. Rain
13. Let’s All Rock*

*…bonus track