Royal Hunt - Moving Target (1995)

Royal Hunt's third album, and the first with excellent vocalist D.C. Cooper (really, it would be hard to find a better voice in metal), is an outstanding piece of hard rock; melodious and catchy, with a beautiful symphonic sound augmented by main man Andre Andersen's keyboards. Such songs as the opening "Last Goodbye" (not sure why The Lord's Prayer is included at the end, but it's a nice touch), "Makin' A Mess", "Step By Step" and the closing "Time" are highlights, but it's the overall grace that exudes the record that makes it so enjoyable, and reflects a very talented group.

****

Kamelot - Eternity (1995)

With a name like Kamelot, this band was made for power metal.  And with lyrics like "Now I tell you an ancient tale, of an ancient man, from not such a distant land/Chivalry rode forth on his mighty horse, the crest of the church engraved upon his chest." ("Proud Nomad"), it shouldn't miss. Then again, they're American, and it's well known that the home of power metal is Europe.
However, Kamelot have found much fame and fortune over their career, with quite a bit of acclaim.
This debut starts nicely with the symphonic sounds of the opening title song, but there is little musical inspiration here overall; songs like "Red Sands" and "One Of The Hunted" are alright, but by default more than anything else. Then there are the melodramatic wailings of vocalist Mark Vanderbilt, which are certainly an acquired taste. He lasted one more album before being replaced, and one hopes the band's music improves as well.

*1/2

Gamma Ray - Land Of The Free (1995)

After starting so well with HEADING FOR TOMORROW, Gamma Ray's following two albums struggled a bit, but they return to form with this release, which came after the depature of Ralf Scheepers, the vocals being taken care of by Kai Hansen himself, his first effort as main vocalist since Helloween's WALLS OF JERICHO.
It starts with the rather bombastic "Rebellion In Dreamland", before the pedal is pushed to the floor as "Man On A Mission" takes hold in all its superfast glory.  Overall, the record is quite a winner, but it still hasn't done as much for me as it has for others.  For instance, the melodies of the title song and "Abyss Of The Void" are good, but sound too much like each other in the choruses.
Blind Guardian's Hansi Kursch's unmistakable voice makes a few appearances, as does former Helloween singer Michael Kiske, and maybe another listen or two might help me appreciate it more.
But, this release, which seems to focus on overcoming evil by salvation (in something), so one can "break free", just isn't quite as enjoyable as I had hoped.

***1/2

Axxis - Matters Of Survival (1995)

This is Axxis' weakest album to date. Really with more of a groove sound than normal, it is reasonable at times, like with the opening "Ecstasy" (unusually sexual for the genre), but, overall, there is not a lot on offer.

**1/2

Rage - Black In Mind (1995)

The Germans are shining at the moment, this being another impressive release from the increasingly consistent Rage.  There's plenty of good stuff here, the only problem being that, at around 70 minutes, it's just too long. There are the usual laments of war and suchlike, showing that this band have quite a high moral standard, and there is some outstanding material on offer.

***1/2

Grave Digger - Heart Of Darkness (1995)

One thing I like about power metal is the fact that the themes are often positive and uplifting (of course, that's also a reason why many people hate it), but not everyone sticks to that formula, and Grave Digger persue a particularly dark path on this album.
With references to Satan and demons and being dragged to hell, this is really nothing new in the metalic world, but also, like many before them, these tend more to be metaphors than any straight Satan worshipping. Songs like "Warchild" and the twelve minute title song lament war (the latter Vietnam), while "Demon's Day" seems to be about mental illness, and the concluding "Black Death"... well, the title speaks for itself.
Musically, this is the band's best release to date - It's heavy, sometimes fast, and with snarled choruses that are memorable instantly.  I'm even getting used to Chris Boltendahl's vocals.  Kind of.
I still prefer positive subject matter, or at least songs of battles won in triumph, etc, but there's something about all this here that does grab me.

****

Iced Earth - Burnt Offerings (1995)

After a four year break, Iced Earth returned with new vocalist Matthew Barlow, although not a great change to their style, from what I can remember. Their first two albums, mainly straight speed, did not do a lot for me, and somehow I don't think this one should either, but there's something about the music that grabs my attention, even if most of the songs take a while to get into, while the dark lyrics, about various evil, demonic issues ("Burning Oasis" focuses on Adam, Eve and Satan, for instance), do keep me curious. And then there's the concluding, sixteen minute "Dante's Inferno" which is, of course, very dark.
I don't know if I can enjoy this stuff all the time (alright, I couldn't), but there is something here that has me reasonably impressed.

***

Blind Guardian - Imaginations From The Other Side (1995)

After Stratovarius, comes my favourite power metal band (so far), Blind Guardian. After two super albums, this one, to me, falls just a tad short, probably because there's not as much variety as was found in, say, SOMEWHERE FAR BEYOND.  And yet there's still some great stuff here.
The opening two tracks, "Imaginations From The Other Side" and "I'm Alive", give us a full throttle start, and what follows is more speed metal with fantasy topics (quite dark much of the time) and, by now, the expected roaring choruses, of which "The Script For My Requeim" is the best.
Hansi Kürsch's vocals are the same as ever, showing such variety that it's sometimes easy to think it's someone else joining him every now and again.
Overall, I don't think this is the band's best work, but it still remains a top listen, and Blind Guardian still head my list of power metal bands.
But there are are a lot more still to come.

****

Stratovarius - Fourth Dimension (1995)

After something of a blah streak (helped by The Human League's OCTOPUS - ****), I needed something to ignite me, and Stratovarius came to the rescue!
With Timo Tolkki passing vocal duties onto namesake and new member Timo Kotipelto (although the former still does back up), this fourth album from my favourite Finnish band (so far) starts with the flying "Against The Wind", which suggets it's going to be a freewheeling piece of speedy and melodious power metal throughout. This is not so, but that doesn't mean there isn't plenty of good stuff here.
"Galaxies" is also worthwhile, as is the ballad "Nightfall", while the six minute instrumental "Stratovarious" demonstrates Tolkki's desire to incorporate more classical stylings. Mind you, that isn't the only track to demonstrate that; "Twilight Symphony" does it pretty well too, including having a short string quartet passage (I'm assuming there were four of them). The lyrics are also well meaning, with "We Hold The Key" speaking about looking after the Earth or we'll have no future, etc, although the sombre "Winter" laments depression.
Overall, Fourth Dimension (the first of several of the band's records to have artwork I really like) still has the band finding its identity but, like the previous DREAMSPACE, there's much to enjoy.
Keyboardist Antti Ikonen and drummer Tuomo Lassila left afterwards.

***1/2

Paragon - World Of Sin (1995)

As far as I'm aware, German band Paragon eventually become good. But this debut suffers from weak songwriting and even weaker production, vocalist Kay Carstens getting lost in the mix.  Founding member and guitarist Martin Christian, the only constant in the band's history, got a completely new line-up after this, and let's hope they deliver something more listenable.

*1/2

Tad Morose - Sender Of Thoughts (1995)

Tad Morose's second album is more labouring, Black Sabbath-style rock (they even proclaim the band in the liner notes) with chugging basslines and a haunting, gothic atmosphere, but there's little in the way of melodious interest - the highlight is the concluding (apart from the pointless 22-second bit at the end) cover of Rainbow's "Gates Of Baylon".

**

Virgin Steele - The Marriage Of Heaven And Hell Part 1

After the uncharacteristic (and ordinary) LIFE AMONG THE RUINS, Virgin Steele kicked back into gear with this album, the first part of two, said to be about the relationship between humanity and the divine. Or something like that.
This record (and its sequel) is seen by some as something as a landmark in metal, but I confess I don't quite understand that. I don't hear much that's particularly revolutionary or new, and I do find that a bit disappointing.
However, having said all that, I still think this is a really top album! With some terrific guitar riffs, and David DeFeis' powerful vocals, even at 70 minutes it holds the attention throughout.  "Last Supper" is the song with, to me, the clearest lyrics, concentrating on Jesus eating with His disciples soon before His arrest and death while, musically speaking, such songs as "Weeping Of The Spirits" and, towards the end, "Blood Of The Saints" and "Life Among The Ruins", are well worth the entry fee.
Overall, it is a consistent, powerful listen, even if it's hard to work out how Heaven and Hell are getting married.

****

Symphony X - Symphony X (1994)

I like the name of American band Symphony X, which was one reason why I'm trying them, another reason being they've got quite a few fans out there.
This debut is not held in very high regard by many, but I think it's quite good, particularly on the first half.  Such songs as "The Raging Seasons", "Premonition" and "Absinthe And Rue" fly with their haunting choruses sung with Queen-like vocal arrangements at times and, while vocalist Rod Tyler (who was ditched after this), while being a bit weak, doesn't do a bad job. The sound is a trifle thin, and the concluding, twelve minute "A Lesson Before Dying" doesn't really work, but there's enough here (the record was particularly popular in Japan) to offer promise of better to come.

***

Helloween - Master Of The Rings (1994)

After two controversial and uncharacteristic albums, Helloween parted ways from singer Michael Kiske and drummer Ingo Shwichtenberg (the latter whom, sadly, killed himself by jumping in front of a subway train in 1995), being replaced by the impressive Andi Deris and Uli Kusch respectively.
The result is a definite return to their traditional sound, and form, although I never have really got all that excited over this band anyway.
Early songs like "Sole Survivor" don't promise much, but such tracks as "Mr Ego", the tongue-in-cheek "Perfect Gentleman" and "Secret Alibi" are fine, and even the ballad "In The Middle Of A Heartbeat" is quite good.

***1/2

Stratovarius - Dreamspace (1994)

Alright, I've had a couple of weeks break here to "get ready" some albums I have coming up, as well as having to take charge of my Outside School Hours Care job which keeps me busy, wears me out and... eehhh, drives me nuts at times.
So we start 1994 with Stratovarius, and this, the Finnish band's third album, is definitely an improvement over their first two. There is more consistency with the songwriting (particularly on the first half), with some good melodies although, at the same time, it has some rather angst-strewn lyrics from Timo Tolkki, which are well matched by his rather forlorn vocals. He has not got a great voice, but there's something about it that is rather sad and heartfelt.
Best songs include the opening "Chasing Shadows", "Eyes Of The World", "We Are The Future" and "Shattered", the latter being one of the few really fast tracks here. I said the lyrics are rather angsty, but also quite lame at times, with clumsy moments in regards to them fitting with the music.
Overall, Dreamspace is a flawed but worthwhile effort, and a step forward to the sound they would become best known for.

***1/2