Shadowdoom9 (Andi)'s Forum Replies

"Hand of Doom" has a mid-tempo hard rock/heavy metal groove. Though it sometimes gets a bit progressive, and they speed up from there in the midsection, having a bit of a superior Alice Cooper Band-like psychedelic vibe.

Slow stoner rock atmosphere within a hard rock/heavy metal frame, with a somewhat progressive section midway through.

A playlist I've made compiling the best highlights of my side of the Roots of Metal project: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3iBbKInKjUBgKlMbZkIG41

Welcome back, my heroic speedy power metal warriors!

A Zelda-inspired power metal tune that's perhaps their best single yet!

Anyway... today's track is "Iron Man". It's the doomiest track we've looked at since "Black Sabbath"in my opinion. I'm going against the general consensus by choosing traditional doom metal on this one.

I find this track to be a mid-tempo heavy metal hit (that I don't like as much other people do) that speeds up in some places. If you're up for some doomy stoner-ish atmosphere, you'll find it in the next track that we will talk about tomorrow...

Here's my top 10 of 1989:

1. Voivod - Nothingface

2. Watchtower - Control and Resistance

3. Annihilator - Alice in Hell

4. Godflesh - Streetcleaner

5. Sabbat - Dreamweaver

6. Pestilence - Consuming Impulse

7. Ministry - The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste

8. Dark Angel - Leave Scars

9. Helstar - Nosferatu

10. Coroner - No More Color

A perfect highlight of bombastic hip-hop-ish industrial metal:

A true accessible yet total rocker suitable for Code Orange's new direction, with the one and only Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins guest appearing:

Just psychedelia, nothing else.

Some more of this band's blend of Maori influences and nu-ish groove metal in their ultimate moshing highlight:

Sail through the seas of Alien Weaponry's Maori-styled groove/alt-metal with this excellent boat-rower:

So that marks the end of my journey through Scorpions' hard rock/heavy metal era that covers the second half of the 70s and the first half of the 80s. Of all the albums from that era, only Love at First Sting is more of a hard rock/pop rock album with barely any metal. Not only that, Love at First Sting is also one of only two albums in my side of the Roots of Metal project that I don't consider metal, the other being Judas Priest's Rocka Rolla. And now I'll just wait for Ben to add to the site the Rainbow and Scorpions albums that are not in the site but I consider metal, so I can copy and paste my reviews for the albums in the thread to their respective release pages. After that and my track-to-track genre analysis for Black Sabbath's Paranoid in Daniel's thread, I'll just stop my project. As much fun as I had exploring the 70s, I want to get my mind back into the present. There are a couple new releases from other bands of different genres that I plan to review. Will I continue this Roots project one day? I don't know. But that's it for this thread....

I'm sorry, world, but the ballad that many of you know and love I think is just far too unnecessary and unfitting for this band:

The last bit of Scorpions' remaining speedy heavy metal for me to enjoy:

The last Scorpions album metal enough for this site, and they had just started making their move to the hard rock/pop rock era that would sadly become more popular than their metallic past. Here are my thoughts:

That is the problem with several rock/metal bands starting off in the 70s. All their glory in that decade starts fading away in the 80s, and most of those bands have no chance in bringing it back. Scorpions is one of those bands with Love at First Sting. While similar to Blackout in terms of formula, almost all the heavy greatness of that album has been replaced with cheesy glam for the sake of commercial success. There's good music and some more killer riffing/soloing, but except a lot of highs and lows... Only a couple songs in the album have a metal sound in their speedy riffing and soloing, but most other songs rock much more like a glam/hard rock hurricane, and the album ends with one of the band's most popular ballads that I think it's just unnecessary and unfitting, and it's the unfortunate sign of their softer era to come. I wouldn't say Love at First Sting is completely bad, but when the band starts losing their metal steam and heading off in a more commercial path, there's not much that can appeal to a metalhead like me. The heavier side of Scorpions has pretty much faded away. That stings....

3/5

Metal enough in my opinion: no

Pure heavy metal with a pop-ish tone.

A 7-minute epic of the ultimate heavy metal engravement in Scorpions' legacy stone:

Scorpions' true heavy metal offering before they began losing much of their heaviness in subsequent albums. Here are my thoughts:

This album is probably the center of the band's direction in their tenure. The 5 albums before Blackout are filled with twisted hard rock/heavy metal anthems, with only a few commercial-sounding songs and several ballads throughout. In the albums after Blackout, it's almost just commercial hard rock/pop rock with barely any metal. Blackout marked that true balance between those eras. They were able to write catchy hooks strong enough to fit well with the metal that shows the last of its dominance here. Many songs have metallic riffing that's hard to ignore, performed by guitarists Rudolf Schenker and Matthias Jabs. I'm starting to realize that Jab is one of the finest guitarists in classic hard rock/heavy metal, in the same level as the band's previous lead guitarist Uli Jon Roth. A shredding man of steel! Vocalist Klaus Meine performs some of his finest vocal work to date. He's awesome at his singing there, and even sing-screaming! I think his vocal cord surgery really enhanced his range. The rhythm section of bassist Francis Buchholz and drummer Herman Rarebell works well with all that soloing and singing insanity. Of course, the album is not without a ballad or two, but other than that, pure rock/metal anthems galore, including a 7-minute epic of the the ultimate heavy metal engravement in Scorpions' legacy stone. Don't back out from the Blackout!

4.5/5

Metal enough in my opinion: yes

Another popular Scorpions track, and actually one in which I understand the appeal of its melodic metallic sound and enjoy it much more than when I first reviewed it in this month's Guardians playlist two weeks ago, thanks to how well my side of the Roots of Metal project is going:

Seriously, the sharp riffing and upbeat tempo just scream metal to my ears! Of course, Scorpions is still the hard rock band they've been known for. Here are my thoughts:

The classic lineup of vocalist Klaus Meine, rhythm guitarist Rudolf Schenker, lead guitarist Matthias Jabs, bassist Francis Buchholz, and drummer Herman Rarebell are back at it again! Animal Magnetism shows the German hard rock/metal masters continuing their formula that would later propel them into global fame. The band can certainly blend rock melody with metallic fury with their respective instruments, whether playing fast, slow, or mid-tempo. Hearing albums like this decades after they come out has made me realize the appeal of their pathway to success. Animal Magnetism isn't as successful as the albums that followed it, but it was the spark they needed to make those albums happen. The elements they have for that are right here, so get ready to feel the sting!

4.5/5

Metal enough in my opinion: yes

It boggles my mind how in the world this dull disappointing ballad became one of the band's most popular non-single songs:

I haven't even reached Blackout yet, and already I find Scorpions at their most metallic with this awesome speed metal assault leaning into thrash:

OK, so continuing my Scorpions journey of which albums are metal or not...

Lovedrive continues the band's hard rock/metal sound (and controversial album covers) with their first album with current guitarist Matthias Jabs. Here are my thoughts:

Lovedrive would've surpassed Taken by Force if Uli Jon Roth was still their guitarist instead of Matthias Jabs who's been with the band ever since. Roth was a talented member of Scorpions (except for his horrid vocal contributions). His metallic noise had really blown the roof off in the albums that he was in. But that's not to say Jabs is super bad at all, he's really good too. Lovedrive is another solid album by the band in which hard rock/metal anthems are in great balance with radio-friendly ballads. In fact, two of the tracks here are the heaviest I've heard from Scorpions, with one of them being an awesome speed metal assault leaning into thrash. Though a couple more tracks are a bit disappointing, such as an overrated dull ballad and a rock instrumental that feels empty without any vocals. In some songs, you can hear Jabs jamming along in the soloing with former member Michael Schenker (Rudolf's brother). And the vocals of Klaus Meine are still top-notch. You can find it all throughout this solid 70s rock/metal cruise in Lovedrive, despite those questionable moments leaving me scratching my head....

4/5

Metal enough in my opinion: yes

I say "War Pigs" is a mid-tempo hard rock/heavy metal track with a doomy intro, along with a progressively advanced structure though nowhere near as much as the more progressive bands today.

Lately I've been discovering a few more bands from the Pit clan. From the earlier underground thrash with progressive tendencies...

...to the later modern thrash mixed with melodeath...

...and this young New Zealand band mixing Maori influences with groove/alt-metal:

Ladies and djentlemen, meet the UK masters of djenty progressive metal, Tesseract:

Ben, please add these new releases:

Atreyu - The Moment You Find Your Flame

Beartooth - The Surface

Ben, please add the new October Tide album The Cancer Pledge.

"Hard Lovin' Man" is another song that I initially thought was hard rock, but listening to it again, I can definitely hear metal in the riffing/soloing momentum. So another hard rock/heavy metal track there!

Now here's how I would genre-tag the 7 tracks in the album:

1. Speed King - Hard rock/heavy metal/proto-speed metal

2. Bloodsucker - Hard rock/heavy metal

3. Child in Time - Progressive rock/psychedelic rock/hard rock

4. Flight of the Rat - Hard rock/heavy metal/proto-speed metal

5. Into the Fire - Hard rock/heavy metal/proto-doom metal

6. Living Wreck - Hard rock

7. Hard Lovin' Man - Hard rock/heavy metal

Primary genres: Hard rock, heavy metal

Secondary genres: Proto-speed metal

I ended up being offered that new job & accepted it. I start on Tuesday 31st October. I'll have plenty of metal time on the drive there & back every day.

Nice!

1. Gateway playlist - 4.5/5 (number of songs commented: 16)

2. Guardians playlist - 4/5 (number of songs commented: ALL 23)

3. Infinite playlist - 4.5/5 (number of songs commented: 7)

4. Revolution playlist - 4.5/5 (number of songs commented: 12)

5. Sphere playlist - 4/5 (number of songs commented: ALL 25)

For the clans I've made the monthly playlists for (The Guardians and The Sphere), I've listened to the entire playlists! I'm grateful to Saxy and Daniel for their playlist works. I really dig the tracks I've reviewed in the Gateway, Infinite, and Revolution playlists made by Saxy, and I'm glad all the two other playlists I've made have paid off. I recommend them to any fan of the clans' respective genres and anyone who isn't into those genres but wants to get into a great start in enjoying them. Thanks, Daniel, for accepting these playlists, and good work all!

THE GATEWAY: Alter Bridge - "Fortress" (2013) 5/5

THE INFINITE: Opeth - "In Live Concert at the Royal Albert Hall" (2010) 4.5/5

THE REVOLUTION: Polaris - "Fatalism" (2023) 4.5/5

THE SPHERE: Godflesh - "The Earache Peel Sessions" (2014) 5/5

Having listened to and reviewed this month's feature releases for all my clans, they all came out fantastic. My Infinite and Revolution nominations are amazing albums that I would recommend to fans of their respective genres. The Alter Bridge and Godflesh albums are perfect gems (thanks Saxy and Daniel!). Keep up the good work on the feature releases, all! I look forward to more...

Sure seems like Deep Purple in Rock might be metal enough for The Guardians based on our votes, but let's check out the final two songs before coming to a conclusion.

"Into The Fire" has a more Sabbath-like direction, slower marching hard rock/heavy metal, coming close to proto-doom metal. This may seem like I'm stretching the truth, but that's how I hear it. My genre verdict for "Into The Fire": Hard rock/heavy metal/proto-doom metal

Thanks, Daniel, but I've just cancelled my second task because I've realized that Rainbow's Rising is not as power metal as I thought, which I thought it was, because of the melodicism and the fantasy lyrics, but only "A Light in the Black" comes close to an important aspect of power metal, which is the speed.

Hmm... Only "A Light in the Black" comes close to the speed of power metal. I was thinking so much of the melodicism and fantasy lyrics. It's clear that this judgement submission isn't gonna win, so please cancel it.

Hi, Ben. As part of my side of the "Roots of Metal" project, there are a few albums that are often considered more hard rock than heavy metal, but they're a highly essential part of heavy metal's development and should be worth some discussion in this site. So can you please add the following:

Judas Priest - Rocka Rolla

Rainbow - Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow

Scorpions - In Trance

Scorpions - Virgin Killer (PLEASE use the replacement album cover with all the band members in it, not the original, for the sake of decency and legality)

Hi, Ben. I've concluded that of all these albums I've listened to and reviewed, only Judas Priest's Rocka Rolla is bluesy hard rock with barely any metal at all. The Rainbow and Scorpions albums I truly consider metal and I would like them added to the site please. Thanks!

PS: It's cool if you still want to use the original Virgin Killer album cover for its release page, but the replacement cover I'll use when discussing the album in forums.

I was going to stop this project there, but now I've given myself two more tasks: 1. I plan to listen to and review the rest of the Scorpions albums that are up in this site and judge which of the albums are metal or not. 2. After experiencing the earliest European-style power metal ever in Rainbow's Rising, I plan to search for any albums that are stylistically similar to Rising released in the years between that album and Helloween's first releases (NOT from America, otherwise they would be considered US power metal which is a different genre/scene). Any suggestions for my second task are welcome. But for now, I'll be taking a break from this project for the weekend to focus on finishing and sending my clan playlists and feature releases, discover a few more bands of different genres, and other projects. More to explore on Monday! Stay tuned...

A true Scorpions classic that should've had more attention than those other songs that practically everyone knows:

I know I said I wouldn't use Scorpions' more controversial album covers, but this one's already in the site. And it isn't controversial in the sexual/nudity sense, but I'll just say, this is why you shouldn't let kids dress up as cowboy gunmen in a soldiers' graveyard. Anyway, here are my thoughts:

Taken by Force is another solid Scorpions album! The dark heaviness continues with a slight step up from their previous album. Although this is the final part of their Uli Jon Roth hard rock/metal trilogy, his lyrics shine as well as his guitarwork, and thank heavens there's none of his god-awful vocals. Vocalist Klaus Meine is the real singing star here, particularly in a few of the band's greatest 70s hits. And the dark lyrics in the Roth-written songs helps them shine as well. Most people who have heard of Scorpions only know them from their newer ballads. That's a shame because they don't know what they're missing out in Taken by Force. Forget about the band's material from the 80s and beyond for a while and check out their 70s era. This album is a total view-changer!

4.5/5

Metal enough in my opinion: yes

Uli Jon Roth is an amazing guitarist, and THAT'S THAT. His awful attempt at vocals ruin everything:

I can still witness Scorpions' late-70s material having some songs metal enough to qualify for that genre. I suggest giving this song a go and checking out its metallic speed:

You know you can't do a review on Virgin Killer without mentioning the elephant in the room. And by that I mean the naked pre-teen girl in the original album cover. Scorpions' record company RCA had that odd disturbing idea for that album cover and the guts to actually do it! Of course, the cover shown here is the replacement one with all the band members in it, as I don't dare share the original. I'm pretty sure laws against child porn in some places have become more stringent after what happened to Manowar's Karl Logan. So that's the major controversy, though a lesser-known controversy is how it inspired the name of a backless sweater often worn on its own. OK, moving on...

The hard rock/metal direction of In Trance continues in Virgin Killer. They still hadn't reached their breakthrough but they're already reaching the public, for both the right and wrong reasons. The progressive/psychedelic rock roots of their first two albums are much further out and unreachable. Virgin Killer has a more commercial sound in the midst of heaviness and balladry of In Trance. And although there's a slight drop in quality, they'll improve again later. Continuing this blend of heavy and soft, there are fast chargers and mellow ballads switching back and forth. All tracks are structurally simple and have a radio-friendly average length of 4 minutes. There's some more of the horrendous vocals from guitarist Ulrich Roth, but the strength of vocalist Klaus Meine almost never runs down, even when things get more mainstream.

"Pictured Life" is a good example of this more commercial take on hard rock/metal, but Meine's singing is a bit awkward, especially in the verses. "Catch Your Train" follows through with more of those catchy yet simple melodies, best found in the chorus. The band truly master their soft side with the first of a few ballads here, "In Your Park". It's quite appealing for rock/metal listeners who want to take things easy once in a while.

For the next track "Backstage Queen", the verses are kinda dull. It is forgettable, though there are other tracks that make up for it quite a lot, like this next one... The title track kicks up the metallic speed greatly. I can consider this song part of the proto-thrash trio, together with Queen's "Stone Cold Crazy" and Black Sabbath's "Symptoms of the Universe". If you don't believe Scorpions has ever gone full-on metal, at least give that song a go. One of two Roth-led songs, "Hell-Cat" is more experimental track. His vocals sound like he's rapping! The first rap rock/metal track!? God forbid... Besides that, the guitars, bass, and drums are not that interesting. But the worst is yet to come...

One track that hasn't been talked about much is "Crying Days", one last song in the album to be written by Klaus Meine and Rudolf Schenker. Sticking an epic-sounding ballad right in the middle of those f***ing Roth-led tracks makes the order quite awkward. Still there's some great slow heavy metal power in that song. The worst track of the album has to be "Polar Nights", the other Roth-led song. It starts off promising with the awesome drumming, but Roth's awkwardly accented vocals ruin everything. Seriously, man! Meine is one of the most killer vocalists in 70s hard rock/metal, so why try to hijack the spotlight? Roth is an amazing guitar player, and THAT'S THAT. I can't handle any more of his annoying singing. "Yellow Raven" is one last memorable mind-blowing ballad to make sure the album ends smoothly.

All in all, Virgin Killer isn't really the best 70s hard rock/metal I've heard. Nonetheless, it's very enjoyable, despite a couple issues that they could've averted. This album is the second part of Roth's hard rock/heavy metal trilogy with the band (though he was also in their second album Fly to the Rainbow). His guitar work has been praised greatly, but certainly not his vocals, which is the album's biggest mistake besides the original album cover. The band will take on a better heavier sound in their next album Taken by Force, but Virgin Killer is still something to recommend for early hard rock/heavy metal fans. Quite underrated when you think of all the high points....

Favorites: "Catch Your Train", "In Your Park", "Virgin Killer", "Crying Days", "Yellow Raven"

4/5

Metal enough in my opinion: yes

I might add Blackout to my listen-and-review to-do list, though my side of the Roots of Metal project only covers albums from the 70s.

Scorpions has had metal aggression as early as their 1975 album In Trance, which they've barely had any of after the second half of the 1970s:

OK, a couple things to be said here: 1. Scorpions' albums in the second half of the 70s have quite some metal going on with their hard rock sound, as my ears would hear it. 2. They're no stranger to controversial cover art, and if you see the censored versions of their cover art in this thread (like in this album cover in which the model originally had an exposed breast), you'll find out why when I review their next album that is the epicenter of that controversy.

In Trance may be Scorpions' third album, but it's the first one with their true sound! They've gone the Deep Purple route of releasing a couple progressive/psychedelic rock albums and then eliminated that sound for something new. Here we have hard rock/heavy metal anthems in furious glory, plus some power ballads.

The album opens with "Dark Lady", in which the guitar riffing fury of Ulrich Roth causes a great deal of aggression Scorpions hasn't had since. While vocalist Klaus Meine sings his usual vocals, you can also hear some singing from Roth which I enjoy. Meine can practically shatter glass with his melodic screams like Judas Priest' Rob Halford can. A ballad that's never lame at all is the title track. It's actually one of the best 70s hard rock ballads I've ever heard! Meine's vocals have so emotion, the chorus sounds powerful, and the song ends epically in the guitar leads. And don't forget a subtle reference to the Beatles. Continuing the sad balladry is "Life’s Like a River". It's about how fast growing up can seem, which is powerful, but any of the older Scorpions fans might feel sad for sure.

One song that's low on quality is "Top of the Bill". That hard rock/metal song sounds too straight in the Black Sabbath-like riff. It's fine, but would be better in a later album. Changing things up lighter but better is Living and Dying". Meine sings a soft verse before rising into a perfect chorus with guitar leads performed in true melancholy. "Robot Man" is another solid enjoyable rock/metal track with guitar Rudolf Schenker shuffling through a catchy riff rhythm. The lyrics are quite amusing, but they add to the song's charm, "I'm a robot man, I'm a loser." Another remorseful ballad is "Evening Wind". The Black Sabbath-esque riffing is performed much better along with the searing solo.

I should note that Roth's attempt at lead vocals in "Sun in My Hand" seems kinda poor. It's a great song with joyful soloing, but it would've been better with Meine. Should've stuck to just guitars, Mr. Roth! Another couple percentage points are knocked off from "Longing for Fire" which sounds like the band is getting tired out at that point from all that rock/metal. However, Schenker and Roth close the album with instrumental "Night Lights", performing beautiful leads and rhythms, ending the album smoothly.

With all that said, In Trance has amazing 70s hard rock/heavy metal going. You can sing along to the metallic anthems and cry tears of joy to the power ballads. I never realized how much potential Scorpions has greatly fulfilled until now, and they would continue that streak for a few years!

Favorites: "Dark Lady", "In Trance", "Living and Dying", "Robot Man", "Evening Wind"

4.5/5

Metal enough in my opinion: yes

I don't think you guys are gonna agree with me here, but similarly to what I think of "Speed King", "Flight of the Rat" is practically proto-speed metal, or speed rock, I don't know. Even back then, there's some speed and intensity in the hard rock/metal riffing not too far off from early speed metal. My genre verdict for "Flight of the Rat": Hard rock/heavy metal/proto-speed metal

A mystical Middle East-inspired classic piece from the final part of Rainbow's Dio trilogy:

The final part of Rainbow's Dio trilogy that would never reach those amazing heights again after he left. Here are my thoughts:

It was after their strong classic Rising and their live album On Stage. The band planned to make one more album that would have the special delivery of Ritchie Blackmore's guitar and Ronnie James Dio's vocals and maintain the magic of Rising. And did they do it? Yes they did! Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll is another amazing addition to the band's discography and Dio's career. They expand their heavy focus in their songs, while at the same time, continuing the versatile experimentation. And most of the songs fit highly well with their respective sounds; hard rock, heavy metal, one more early power metal song, and even a medieval folk ballad. Only a couple hard rock songs are unsteady, but once again they're OK and the album's classic status is never highly detracted. Other members that have worked with Blackmore and Dio in this offering are keyboardists Tony Carey and David Stone with their magical synths, the late Cozy Powell with his devastating drums, and Bob Daisley with his booming bass. Long Live Rock 'n' Roll is the final part of Rainbow's amazing trilogy, and is the second-best of the trilogy, with the band's debut in 3rd place and Rising winning the gold medal. Sadly, Blackmore planned to move to a more commercial sound after their 3rd album, and Dio, disapproving of that idea, left the band and joined Black Sabbath. And thus ended Rainbow's era of promising glory, with all hopes for Dio to reunite with Rainbow no longer possible. RIP... Long live their music!

4.5/5

Metal enough in my opinion: yes