Založba/Label: Atomic Fire Records
Datum izida/Release date: 10/13/2023
Produkcija/Producer: Matt Smith
Dolžina albuma/Running Time: 66.04 min
Zvrst/Genre: Progressive Metal
6.5/10
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Theocracy – Mosaic, released 10/13/2023 by Atomic Fire Records
“Theocracy slipping slightly from grace”
Atomic Fire Records has apparently taken over from Frontiers as the standard-bearer of melodic metal. Let’s just hope they don’t get tangled up in the idea of founding a thousand duos, trios and imaginary supergroups, the way the owner of said Frontiers did.
Theocracy started out as a one-man project of singer, composer, lyricist and multi-instrumentalist Matt Smith, a committed and devout Christian.
I first heard of him when he put out a short parody of Metallica’s album St. Anger, or rather its sound. I liked him right away.
In 2003 he released a self-titled album under the Theocracy name, singing everything, playing every instrument and programming the drums himself. In 2008 he put out Mirror of Souls with help from his buddy, guitarist Jonathan Hinds, and a real, live drummer, Shawn Benson.
By 2011 he’d managed to put together a proper band, with the competent lead guitarist Van Allen Wood and bassist Jared Oldham. The spirit of a real band really showed on As the World Bleeds, which, in my view, is still the peak of Matt’s work.
2016 brought a drop in quality with the very pale Ghost Ship, and at that point Matt had to decide the how, the what and the where.
We had to wait almost exactly seven years, until October 2023, for Theocracy to delight and enlighten us with a new album, handily named Mosaic. In the meantime, Van Allen Wood earned himself the boot with his thoroughly unchristian deeds and behavior, and was replaced by seasoned guitar wizard Taylor Washington of Paladin, who also lent a few vocals on Sinsidious.
So what did Matt and the gang cook up this time? On first listen, and on the tenth too, I’d say the classic Theocracy minestrone, with all the classic ingredients. Clean sound, melodic choir chants, tons of double bass drum, speed-power guitar runs and a surprisingly weak vocal from Matt, which I’ll come back to below. And of course let’s not forget the Christian-flavored lyrics, full of hope, worry, self-reflection and faith in the Almighty. Thank God (naturally) Matt never slides into preaching in the lyrics, so any honest atheist like me can dive into the music and words without threats of hellfire.
As my professor wife likes to do, I’ll start with the praise, and then comes the stuff after the “but”. The production is top-notch, with enough low end to rightfully use the word “metal”. The track order is well thought out, with faster songs and mid-tempo ones following each other nicely, the obligatory ballad The Greatest Hope near the end of the album and the 19-minute epic Red Sea right at the tail. The music is top-class Scandinavian-style power metal with a slight pinch of progressive and speed metal. New drummer Ernie Topran provides a varied enough rhythmic foundation, and new lead guitarist Washington really put in the effort and more than justified his hiring. His lead guitar is always up front, the solos are well thought out and nicely conceived, yet fully subordinate to Matt’s compositional approach. You’d say, a really high-quality power metal album!
“BUT”
It’s never a good sign when you have to reach for a dictionary for the titles of half the songs. Just kidding.
Theocracy has a problem similar to Sonata Arctica’s, or rather, main and sole songwriter Matt Smith has a problem similar to main and sole songwriter Tony Kakko’s. Their compositional approaches are so ingrained that a seasoned power metal listener can instantly predict where the melody will turn, what the next rhyme will be and when the rhythmic change is coming. In short, the songs are predictable. That’s especially annoying because the record kicks off with the truly excellent Flicker, a proper power metal atom bomb. Unfortunately, the tracks that follow don’t match that intensity and exuberance.
The second issue is Matt’s vocals. Like Joacim’s in HammerFall, they’re very melodic and reliable, and the vocal melodies are interesting and catchy, but, to put it bluntly, they’re just feeble. I still can’t tell whether the problem is the recording technique or the vocal cords. Either way, Matt’s whining can get annoying, just like Joacim’s.
And finally, few compositions in heavy metal deserve a length of 19 minutes. And Red Sea is definitely not one of them. Too many repeated melodic patterns, overlong instrumental passages and uninteresting rhythms. Trimming it down to a bearable 8-9 minutes would have been plenty.
Final verdict: Mosaic is better than its predecessor, mainly thanks to the aforementioned Flicker, the ultra-melodic video single Return to Dust, and, again, Washington on lead guitar. But it doesn’t reach the excellent and, for its time, fresh Mirror of Souls, let alone the inimitable As the World Bleeds. Sadly.
Author: Igorac
Theocracy – Mosaic, released 10/13/2023 by Atomic Fire Records
“Theocracy slightly falling from grace”
As the home of melodic metal, Atomic Fire Records has clearly taken over as the flag bearer from Frontiers. We can only hope that they don’t get caught up in the idea of creating thousands of duos, trios and imaginary supergroups like the owner of the Frontiers in question.
Theocracy is a band that began as a one-man project of singer, composer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Matt Smith, a conscious and devout Christian.
I first heard of him when he posted a short parody of Metallica’s album St. Anger or rather its sound. I immediately liked him.
In 2003, under the name Theocracy, he released an self titled album, on which he sang everything, played all the instruments and programmed the drums. In 2008, he released Mirror of Souls with the help of his friend guitarist Jonathan Hinds and real live drummer Shawn Benson.
By 2011, he managed to put together a real band with competent solo guitarist Van Allen Wood and bassist Jared Oldham. The spirit of the real band was very prominent on the album As the World Bleeds, which, in my opinion, is still the pinnacle of Matt’s work.
2016 was followed by a drop in quality with the release of the very lackluster album Ghost Ship and at this point Matt had to decide how and what and where.
We had to wait almost exactly seven years until October 2023 for Theocracy to delight and enlighten us with a new album, conveniently titled Mosaic. Meanwhile, Van Allen Wood was kicked out of the band for his completely unchristian actions and behavior, and was replaced by seasoned guitar wizard Taylor Washington of the band Paladin, who also lent some vocals on Sinsidious.
What did Matt and his colleagues cook for us this time? On the first listen, as well as on the tenth, I would say classic Theocracy minestrone, with all the classic ingredients. Clean sound, melodic choral chants, double bass drum galore, speed-power guitar passages and Matt’s surprisingly weak vocals, which I will return to later. Of course, we must not forget the Christian-tinged texts, full of hope, concern, self-reflection and faith in the almighty. Thank goodness (of course) Matt never gets preachy in the lyrics, but makes sure any honest atheist like myself can engage with the music and lyrics without the threat of hellfire.
As my professor wife likes to do, I’ll start with the compliments first, and then come the matters after the word “but”. The production is top-notch, with enough bass to justify the use of the word “metal”. The order of the compositions is well thought out, the faster pieces and the mid-tempo ones follow each other nicely, with the obligatory ballad The Greatest Hope towards the end of the album and the 19-minute epic Red Sea right at the tail end. The music is top-notch power metal of the Scandinavian type with a slight pinch of progressive and speed metal. The new drummer Ernie Topran takes care of a sufficiently varied rhythmic base, and the new solo guitarist Washington put in a lot of effort and boldly made sure to justify his engagement. His lead guitar is always in the foreground, the solos are thoughtful and well executed, while at the same time completely submitting to Matt’s compositional touches. One would say, a really high quality power metal album!
“BUT”
It’s never good when you have to use a dictionary for the titles of half the songs. Kidding.
Theocracy has a similar problem as Sonata Arctica has or main and sole author Matt Smith has a similar problem as main and sole author Tony Kakko has. Their compositional approaches are so automated that an experienced power metal listener can immediately predict where the melody will turn, what the next rhyme will be and when the rhythmic transition will follow. In short, the songs are predictable. This fact is particularly disturbing because the record opens with the truly excellent Flicker, which is a true power metal atom bomb. Then, unfortunately, the following pieces fail to achieve this intensity and exuberance.
Another problem is Matt’s vocals. Similar to the vocals of Joacim from HammerFall, they are very melodic, reliable, the vocal melodies are interesting and infectious, but they are somehow ,,, feeble to put it bluntly. I am still not sure whether the problem is in the recording technique or in the vocal cords. Basically, Matt’s whining can be annoying, just like Joacim’s.
And finally, rare compositions in heavy metal deserve a length of 19 minutes. And Red Sea is definitely not one of those. Too many repeated melodic patterns, too long instrumental passages and uninteresting rhythms. If they shortened the piece to a bearable 8-9 minutes, it would be quite enough.
Final verdict: Mosaic is better than its predecessor, mainly thanks to the aforementioned Flicker and the ultra-melodic Return to Dust video single, as well as Washington on lead guitar. However, it does not come close the excellent and for the time fresh album Mirror of Souls, let alone the inimitable As the World Bleeds. Unfortunately.
Author: Igorac
Tracklist:
1. Flicker
2. Anonymous
3. Sinsidious (The Dogs Of War)
4. Return To Dust
5. The Sixth Great Extinction
6. Deified
7. The Greatest Hope
8. Liar, Fool, Or Messiah
9. Red Sea
Line-up:
Matt Smith – vokal / vocals
Taylor Washington – kitara / guitar
Jonathan Hinds – kitara / guitar
Jared Oldham – bas kitara / bass
Ernie Topran – bobni / drums
