Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Rage
Label: Nuclear Blast
Release: 2016
Length: 46:37
Rating: 4/5
Rage are long-lived heavy metallers from Hamburg. Together with Grave Digger, Running Wild, Blind Guardian (back in the day under their original name, Lucifer’s Heritage) and of course Helloween, they made up – still under the name Avenger – the first generation of German bands playing what was then modern heavy/speed metal, modeled on and inspired by the NWOBHM boom.
Over a long career they’ve gone through many incarnations, and their style of writing and their take on music have shifted over the years too. »The Devil Stikes Again« is Rage’s twenty-third album overall and a pivotal one, since it presents the band in a completely new lineup. The long-running partnership between frontman Peter »Peavy« Wagner and Belarusian musical virtuoso and composer Victor Smolski cracked after fifteen years together, creatively run dry and drained of energy. Even the album »LMO« (2013) was more a Lingua Mortis Orchestra featuring Rage record than a real Rage album, and it was most likely pushed through by the classically trained Victor Smolski, who, unlike the exalted Peavy, hated the thought of newly composed material gathering dust in the archives forever. Well, Peavy already had a different vision for the rest of his career back then. The man, who counts as one of the pioneering figures in popularizing heavy metal in Germany, kept looking back more and more at the band’s past deeds. Already in 2014 he surprised everyone by teaming up with former Rage companions Manni Schmidt (ex-Grave Digger) and drummer Chris Efthimiadis. Those three, in fact, make up the golden lineup of classic Rage. Together they decided to play a »secret gig« under the alias »Tres Hombres«. Thanks to how well that went, the trio, under the name Refuge (taken from a Rage song on the 1993 album »Missing Link«), extended its lifespan with a handful of festival appearances in 2015.
So Peavy got swept back to the eighties and nineties. What’s interesting is that he didn’t rebrand this trio as the new Rage, as you might have expected, but instead rebuilt Rage with two completely new members. The new guitarist is Marcos Rodriguez, a man of mixed Belgian-Venezuelan descent who previously played Rage’s music in the tribute band Soundchaser. The other newcomer is drummer Vassilios “Lucky” Maniatopoulos, who is actually an old acquaintance of Peavy’s, having spent years as Chris Efthimiadis’ drum tech. That’s why his approach to drumming is so close to what Peavy was after in reviving the old musical direction, modeled on Rage’s albums of the nineties. Last year the band wrapped up a successful joint tour with Helloween, and at the very end of the year they also played a few headline shows around Europe, performing the album »Black In Mind« (1995) almost in its entirety. The move made sense, not least because of that album’s 20th anniversary – for many fans, the most beloved classic Rage album.
»The Devil Strikes Again« opens a new chapter in the band’s career while actually delivering a refreshed philosophy of approaching heavy metal, one that champions aggressive playing without the fuss, without neo-classical frills, without prog-style rhythmic twists and turns. In other words, no fuss, just raw riffing, backed by an unstoppable charge of double bass drum pedals, with an essence that can often tap into the levers of Teutonic thrash metal too. »German post-thrashed heavy metal« according to the Rage recipe. In that sense Peavy and company have really made an album that finds a logical stylistic and sonic link to the band’s classic works, headed by »End of All Days«, »Black In Mind«, »The Missing Link« and »Trapped«. Rodriguez is regarded as an excellent guitarist. He’s incredibly nimble at embellishing the transitions, with unpretentious but always piercingly fiery guitar solos. He’s a player who, by Peavy’s decree, works in the mold of predecessors like Manni Schmidt or Spiros Efthimiadis. Even though the trio squeezes a considerable level of musicianship out of the new album, he never slips into the pompous, at times downright over-the-top decorating of songs that was a trademark of the Rage era with Smolski in the lineup. The new Rage attack head-on and without restraint. The riff assaults blend superbly with the cannonade of the drum arsenal, while Peavy, as chief conductor and visionary, acts mostly as the executive director of ideas. The key man who decides how the compositions have to stand. Production-wise the album is extremely well balanced. Drums, guitar and bass sit on equal footing in the sound. In the mix they’re cunningly arranged into a »triangle« across the sonic spectrum. They fill the available space in an optimized way and sound with incredible drive, eruptive fury and raw liveliness. Like a hellish live march. In that sense the whole album pulses with incredible crushing intensity. In the spirit of the old school of German metal, but translated into the pulse of modern times.
The album is also richly seasoned with fresh ideas in its guitar phrases, which gives the feeling that the band has freed itself from all shackles in terms of songwriting and started breathing creatively with full lungs. An album that shows the new trio really enjoyed making it and found new momentum and purpose. Even though Rage aren’t discovering a new musical revolution, the album »The Devil Striks Again« makes a credible connection to the band’s nineties era. And Peavy got exactly what he wanted. He created a new band that radiates a different yet still homey-sounding vibe. So does the new album. It sounds »like home«, yet different. Unique once again. Because it carries that unmistakable Rage vibe. However retro, already-tried and familiar The Devil Strikes Again sounds, those retro songwriting levers have been effectively transformed for a new era through the fresh creative bonds of the revitalized band.
»The Devils Strikes Again« is an album some fans were right to »fear«, but Peavy is far too experienced and cunning not to have taken every important measure before directing the album, so he wouldn’t accidentally hammer nails into his own coffin, or rather so he’d (once more in his long career with the band) manage to play himself a winning hand of poker aces.
The excellent, upbeat mood that surrounded the making of this album is rounded out by two special editions with bonus CDs. One version has a bonus CD with only the material that didn’t find room on the album plus three covers, an interesting choice but a much less interesting execution. The three-CD version adds a full live show by the band, played on the last tour with Helloween.
Rage – My Way (official video):
Line-up
Peter “Peavy” Wagner – vocals, bass
Marcos Rodriguez – guitar
Vassilios “Lucky” Maniatopoulos – drums
Production
Peter “Peavy” Wagner & Marcos Rodriguez
Track list
01. The Devil Strikes Again
02. My Way
03. Back On Track
04. The Final Curtain
05. War
06. Ocean Full Of Tears
07. Deaf, Dumb And Blind
08. Spirits Of The Night
09. Times Of Darkness
10. The Dark Side Of The Sun
BONUS CD:
01. Bring Me Down
02. Into The Fire
03. Requiem
04. Bravado (Rush cover)
05. Slave To The Grind (Skid Row cover)
06. Open Fire (Y&T cover)
