Blaze Bayley
Endure and Survive (Infinite Entanglement II)
Blaze Bayley Recordings
2017
Blaze Bayley did rock out with Wolfsbane since the mid-80s and if rumors are to believed, a new album should be expected at some point soon. He did a couple of albums with British Gods of Metal, Iron Maiden, that didn’t exactly live up to the most high expectations associated with them and has since also released more than a handful of albums either under his full name or the Blaze mononym.
“Endure and Survive (Infinite Entanglement II)” is what it says on the tin/title, the sequel of the sci-fi concept whose first part debuted last year, to possibly complete the “saga” quickly. On the good side, spoken parts and interludes are “minimized” so as not to tangle in the way of the songs, but when they occasionally come up – they sound like voice overs instead of properly sequenced “parts”, which spoils the experience somewhat. The songs on this second part sound a tad livelier and better, but the production, which is somewhat better, is still a little odd, leaving Blaze’s vocals a little “out” of the mix in certain “quieter” places.
The title track, “Endure & Survive”, opens the album and is among the better ones, although I couldn’t help imaging it, with a better production and a bit lighter vocals… in an ideal world… and without the “voice over”…
“Escape Velocity” has some good ideas, but feels a bit too dense for a three and a half minute song...
“Blood” tries semi successfully to be a bit more modern and hard hitting, but again the “story” / voice overs kind of ruin the continuity, sounding unnatural.
“Eating Lies” is a more “sentimental” number, but suffers from Blaze’s lack of vocal agility, as he sounds more dorian than heroic in his deliveries, without enough lamentation and inflections in the voice to make him “chill”-rending.
“Destroyer” is bad per ce, but what seems to drag down the album, is the inability of Bailey to be a vocal actor… he can convey one “type” of vocals, well and does so, but when being a bit different would have made a whole lot of difference he sounds too one-dimensional and “deep”.
“Dawn of the Dead Son” in the hands of a better singer would have sounded positively epic, but unfortunately BB drags it down to mid-tempo and not terribly exciting territory, where it remains, despite the attempt to lift it up with some careful, backing vocals that appear to be female mixed low.
“Remember” is a nice little acoustic/string “ballad” that is OK, with Bailey offering a sincere, but not amazing performance backed by a few female vocalists, as before…
“Fight Back” is probably one of the better, more complete attempts on the album, a rather up-tempo moment, with Bailey applying rather fitting vocals, a nice solo, everything clicking, really…
“The World is Turning the Wrong Way” tries to maintain the momentum in a more mid-tempo situation and it quite manages to achieve just that, with the strong manly vocals, nicely contrasting the female choral ones during the chorus. Pretty epic…
Last but not leas, “Together We Can Move the Sun” manages to be a nice conclusion, with a rather triumphant and celebratory tone; a really neat culmination to the album and possibly to the story?
Overall, somewhat better than the previous year’s effort, but still not on par with any of his previous attempts.
“Endure and Survive (Infinite Entanglement II)” is what it says on the tin/title, the sequel of the sci-fi concept whose first part debuted last year, to possibly complete the “saga” quickly. On the good side, spoken parts and interludes are “minimized” so as not to tangle in the way of the songs, but when they occasionally come up – they sound like voice overs instead of properly sequenced “parts”, which spoils the experience somewhat. The songs on this second part sound a tad livelier and better, but the production, which is somewhat better, is still a little odd, leaving Blaze’s vocals a little “out” of the mix in certain “quieter” places.
The title track, “Endure & Survive”, opens the album and is among the better ones, although I couldn’t help imaging it, with a better production and a bit lighter vocals… in an ideal world… and without the “voice over”…
“Escape Velocity” has some good ideas, but feels a bit too dense for a three and a half minute song...
“Blood” tries semi successfully to be a bit more modern and hard hitting, but again the “story” / voice overs kind of ruin the continuity, sounding unnatural.
“Eating Lies” is a more “sentimental” number, but suffers from Blaze’s lack of vocal agility, as he sounds more dorian than heroic in his deliveries, without enough lamentation and inflections in the voice to make him “chill”-rending.
“Destroyer” is bad per ce, but what seems to drag down the album, is the inability of Bailey to be a vocal actor… he can convey one “type” of vocals, well and does so, but when being a bit different would have made a whole lot of difference he sounds too one-dimensional and “deep”.
“Dawn of the Dead Son” in the hands of a better singer would have sounded positively epic, but unfortunately BB drags it down to mid-tempo and not terribly exciting territory, where it remains, despite the attempt to lift it up with some careful, backing vocals that appear to be female mixed low.
“Remember” is a nice little acoustic/string “ballad” that is OK, with Bailey offering a sincere, but not amazing performance backed by a few female vocalists, as before…
“Fight Back” is probably one of the better, more complete attempts on the album, a rather up-tempo moment, with Bailey applying rather fitting vocals, a nice solo, everything clicking, really…
“The World is Turning the Wrong Way” tries to maintain the momentum in a more mid-tempo situation and it quite manages to achieve just that, with the strong manly vocals, nicely contrasting the female choral ones during the chorus. Pretty epic…
Last but not leas, “Together We Can Move the Sun” manages to be a nice conclusion, with a rather triumphant and celebratory tone; a really neat culmination to the album and possibly to the story?
Overall, somewhat better than the previous year’s effort, but still not on par with any of his previous attempts.