Stormzone
Three Kings
Metal Nations Ltd
2013
Stormzone have been around for a while, almost half a decade now and are at this point celebrating their fourth release with three kings, a title that might have been a little more akin to a third release, I suppose…
From a very melodic hard rock band and following some line-up changes and the natural progression they have seemingly thickened up their sound into what could be described as classic yet melodic British metal that has the style of yesteryear but sounds very up-to-date. I would dare to say, this sounds a bit like how Iron Maiden might have sounded if they were really a hard rock band... with a different singer obviously. (haha) Harv has this very commanding voice that sort of reminds a bit of Blaze Bailey’s, but is 100 thousand times better. He has all the good baritone qualities but he can really push his voice higher too, without sounding forced, so, he's really, what, Bailey SHOULD have been.
“The Pain Inside” begins with a march band and some Churchill speech expert and quickly unfurls into an energetic melodic Maiden meets Lizzy meets pretty much everything under the sun. It’s really good with its motivated riff and syncopated rhythm and really cool solo!
Next up is the “Spectre”. A quite dynamic song this one apparently about naval warfare. Imagine “master and commander” and the like…. imagery set to music. Pretty epic stuff – mid tempo, lots of nice melodies throughout!
“Stoneheart” is a bit weird, at least in the way it starts, with a very “in your face” and “modern” way, with its chorus preceding everything else... it’s pretty nice otherwise, but Harv, the singer sings a rather strained line somewhere in there, which is sort of borderline…
“Alive” starts as a ballad and really carries on, to blossom into a heavier sort of song, a beautiful sort of experiment, that works quite well. Again a few lines are a little strained, where maybe a more “melodic falsetto” might have been preferable, but maybe not so “metal”… oh well what the hell...
“Night of the Storm” shows potential, with half of its melodies, being fine, but it manages to totally blow it, by mixing those good ideas with some totally BAD ones and a rather palpable pre-chorus. Too bad, since it has a very nice solo. Re-written, this could have been a very nice song.
“Beware in Time” is a nice ballad that sways and floats around sweetly before a quite memorable solo in 3.30…. one of the finer songs on the album.
The namesake of the album the “Three Kings” is another riff heavy number, that reeks of maiden and is a pleasure to listen to! (even if the song reminds me of the “Wicker Man” a bit – lol)
From a very melodic hard rock band and following some line-up changes and the natural progression they have seemingly thickened up their sound into what could be described as classic yet melodic British metal that has the style of yesteryear but sounds very up-to-date. I would dare to say, this sounds a bit like how Iron Maiden might have sounded if they were really a hard rock band... with a different singer obviously. (haha) Harv has this very commanding voice that sort of reminds a bit of Blaze Bailey’s, but is 100 thousand times better. He has all the good baritone qualities but he can really push his voice higher too, without sounding forced, so, he's really, what, Bailey SHOULD have been.
“The Pain Inside” begins with a march band and some Churchill speech expert and quickly unfurls into an energetic melodic Maiden meets Lizzy meets pretty much everything under the sun. It’s really good with its motivated riff and syncopated rhythm and really cool solo!
Next up is the “Spectre”. A quite dynamic song this one apparently about naval warfare. Imagine “master and commander” and the like…. imagery set to music. Pretty epic stuff – mid tempo, lots of nice melodies throughout!
“Stoneheart” is a bit weird, at least in the way it starts, with a very “in your face” and “modern” way, with its chorus preceding everything else... it’s pretty nice otherwise, but Harv, the singer sings a rather strained line somewhere in there, which is sort of borderline…
“Alive” starts as a ballad and really carries on, to blossom into a heavier sort of song, a beautiful sort of experiment, that works quite well. Again a few lines are a little strained, where maybe a more “melodic falsetto” might have been preferable, but maybe not so “metal”… oh well what the hell...
“Night of the Storm” shows potential, with half of its melodies, being fine, but it manages to totally blow it, by mixing those good ideas with some totally BAD ones and a rather palpable pre-chorus. Too bad, since it has a very nice solo. Re-written, this could have been a very nice song.
“Beware in Time” is a nice ballad that sways and floats around sweetly before a quite memorable solo in 3.30…. one of the finer songs on the album.
The namesake of the album the “Three Kings” is another riff heavy number, that reeks of maiden and is a pleasure to listen to! (even if the song reminds me of the “Wicker Man” a bit – lol)
“The Pass Loning” is another epic sounding number, almost like a hymn, a song sung about adventures on the high seas… superb solo… great atmosphere.
“I am the One” is chunkier and crazier… and talking about a madman! Lol !
“Wallbreaker” is pushing the pedal to the metal with some double bass drum, hitting, but I must say it sounds a bit daft!
“Never Trust” has an intro that made me thought that it would possibly be the best ballad, ever written... alas, it soon changes into a falsetto from hell, metallic-attack... so while it wasn’t bad it was quite something else... oh yeah … the outro is also another superbly “fragile” and beautiful acoustic piece... that’s completely different … hahaha!
“B.Y.H.” stands for “Bang Your Head” and I suppose it might be possible that the band might have decided to write such a song after playing at the festival? It sounds plausible… or it might be a coincidence! It’s not too bad, and unlike most of these “Bang you head – rock your ass, suck my @#$#$” anthems, it’s hardly cheesy at all, but still, I find most of these type of songs UN-necessary… Manowar are to blame…. for those…. hahaha!
“Out of Eden” begins like a semi ballad, and thickens up into a lyrical epic about I suppose the fall of mankind?
Overall, it’s interesting to see how Stormzone have evolved and it’s hard not to agree that they are a hardworking and hard rocking band with some pretty good tunes. While, I’d say that this might be an improvement over their recent couple of albums, there is a certain overall flatness, something missing a certain sparkle, I guess, even if there are many good songs and it’s not that the production is bad either, because it’s not. I guess, I may have never gotten over that first album, that was way more melodic, but as this would confuse a lot of you, I suppose if you love Maiden and Lizzy, (a shitload of people) give this album a chance, you might actually, find quite a few enjoyable tunes on it...