The Best of Noise 1999

No, this is not my listing for "T" because that would be really lame, using "The" when I still have quite a few T albums to work through. This is the opportunity for me to listen to the bonus cd included with Stratovarius's "Chosen One"'s compilation.

Our first offering is "Ring of Fire" by metal legends, Virgin Steele. The vocals are raw, with a razor edge but also a hint of melody. Sounds rather old-school metal, with a definite American edge. Catchy choruses and a touch of keyboards.

Heavenly are a French neo-classical power metal band, but their track "Riding Through Hell" is nothing special. The vocals are raw edged, the instruments fairly repetitive and the structures uncomplicated. There are some nice twiddly guitar bits. This is from their debut album.

"Coming Home" by German band Iron Saviour is equally raw. What is does have, however, is a slightly catchier chorus. It also has Kai Hansen, but he's not doing the vocals -  if he were they would probably sound like Gamma Ray. As it is, they do not stand out stunningly from the preceeding two tracks. Good guitar, of course, cos of Hansen.

Of a faster pace and introducing a more progressive sound, Stigmata IV's "Crusade of Lies". The vocals are uninspiring - raw and rugged. Catchy rhythms and melodies. So far every track has featured a razor-edged tenor vocalist. It must have been a trend of the late 90s. Stigmata IV were a German band that were forced to continuiously change their name and eventually disbanded in 2005.

Kamelot introduce a bit of variety with "Millenium". The fast-paced drums race the keyboards, whilst Roy Khan's voice soars over them. As far as structure and melodies go, it's more akin to speed than the symphonic power metal they are classified under today. This was their first album with Khan, and you can hear the promise of it with the variable vocals and intricate keyboarding. I really must get myself some of the more recent Kamelot.

Introducing a rather more guttural sound - Afterworld bring us "Dark Side of the Mind". Steady pace, galloping drums, harsh vocals. They're a Finnish "power" metal (this ain't power IMO) band that have not even the recognition of a wikipedia page.

Now, here's something with promise - "Shadow Dancer" by Elegy. Vocals are melodic and of variable pitch (ie, he sings both low(ish) and high). Somewhat reminding me of Edguy. It's not extraordinary or original, but it does have appeal and is one of my top picks from this list - partly because the chorus is really catchy. It's colourful and stirring. They were a Dutch band with an unstable line-up. The carnival music at the end is a nice touch.

More raw vocals from German band Symphorce as they are "Retracing the Lines". Again we have unremarkable verses, but a decently anthemic build up to the chorus.

Somewhat dramatic "Thunderstorm" by Iron Fire builds up to the catchy chorus. There's echoes of the 80s reflected in this piece, which reminds me a little of a slower paced Judas Priest. The vocals are slightly lower than most of the other bands in this collection, although he manages something of a crescendo for the chorus. They're from Denmark and this was from their debut cd.

"The Game" begins at a frantic pace, as Headstone Epitaph take their turn. Vocals are more shouted than sung - at least until the chorus, when the backing vocalists display somewhat more vocal versatility than the lead. Uncomplicated, solid with repetitive rifts. I would suspect there are some punk influences here. Formed in 1987, they're from Germany and are still active today - despite only releasing three full length albums.

Bringing in more aggression and making a religious statement, we have Warhead with "The Other Side". This German band have been labelled power metal, but they're more thrash metal with a hint of punk. Despite (or perhaps because of) being very reptitive and mostly uninspiring, this song is annoyingly catchy and will pound through your brain for ages - much as the drums pound through your head while you're listening to it.

Finally we conclude with a rather odd cover by Lefay. Once Morgana Lefay, they dropped the Morgana when they dropped Black Mark. However, it appears Noise wasn't good to them either, because they later returned to BM and reclaimed their full name. The cover they have chosen is "Cocaine" and they have chosen to play it relatively true-to-form - with the solid instruments, slow and steady pacing and relatively low-pitched vocals. Originally performed by JJ Cale, and covered by Eric Clapton, it seems an odd inclusion to the collection, but definitely stands out.

It's not a bad mix, but for a compilation album the songs are all rather similar. There is actually more diversity in Stratovarius' album than there is in this collection of "the best of 1999". It makes for good background noise, and some of the songs are quite catchy, so I'll rank in 6.5/10. The only two bands I am inspired to hear more of are Elegy and Kamelot. Although I am a bit of a fan of Morgana Lefay anyway.

Morgana Lefay - Past, Present, Future (1995)

You will probably notice I have a lot of 1995/96 albums. This was because I now had my own disposible income. Not much, for sure, but since I was still living at home and not paying board - it allowed me to expand my collection. It is also about the time when I started buying mainly cds instead of cassette tapes.

Morgana Lefay began in Sweden as "Damage" but renamed themselves after the sorceress from King Arthur. Their sound is thrash style music - heavy, slowish rifts, but the guitars and vocals are more power with Charles Rytkönen have quite a higher pitched voice, with a somewhat sinister edge. He screams rather well. After self producing their first album, they released four with Black Mark, before dumping Black Mark and the "Morgana" and switching to Noise under Lefay. Presumerably this change was to enable them to break the contract.

This is a very attractive album, and comes with a poster. Due to a rather significant design flaw - the poster will not fit inside the CD cover and has to be stored separately. It contains the cover illustration on one side - an hourglass crackling with electric energy and covered in either spiderwebs or a finely woven silk. This is actually a "zoomed in" image from the cover of "Secret Doctrine", plus the lyrics to two of the "brandnew" tracks, and on the reverse is a bunch of band photographs, and their previous CD covers. I have three of their previous albums, but these were acquired much, much later.

One of the brandnew tracks, "Sculptures of Pain" is a powerful piece with desperation in the vocals and heavy rhythms.

I love the opening to "Lost Reflections" which is eerie and sinister.

"Locked in the attic, been here so many years, Shanna won't set me free..."

I still wonder who Shanna is. The music playing counterpoint to the snarled vocals is thin, spooky. Until... BOOM, it roars into a dramatic explosion of a guitar solo almost 3/4s of the way into the piece. It appears, being trapped in the attic, has driven the narrator quite insane...
Shanna had better watch out!
This is a cover of a Crimson Glory song.

Another haunting number, "Rumours of Rain" starts slow and sinister. It is taken from the album "Knowing Just As I", becoming increasingly frantic as the song progresses, before fading out to melancholy.

Then we walk the "Alley of the Oaks", take from "The Secret Doctrine". It is a menacing place to meander, filled with dark shadows and sharp teeth hidden in the gloom:

"Was there something behind me? What did move over there?"

"Battle of Evermore" is a melancholic number, starting with aching guitar chords and solemn vocals. It is from "Knowing Just as I". Not to be confused with the Led Zep song by the same name. The angels are at war.

"Angels fighting angels, Heaven is painted red. Crimson rain is falling..."

Another brandnew track, is a fantastic cover of "Voulez Vous" as Morgana Lefay pay tribute to Sweden's most famous band, ABBA. It's a fast-paced number, filled with energy and also rather amusing. I love heavy metal covers of pop songs.

"The Mirror" holds darkness and fear, hidden in ominous lyrics and solid beats. Taken from "The Secret Doctrine".

Aniother slow. melancholic and achingly sorrow-filled song is "Last Rites" - a song about being sent to the gallows. Also from "The Secret Doctrine". Dying alone, his fate is to feed the crows. We never find out his crime, not on this album, anyhow.

A fitting follow up - "Sorrow Calls" or rather, screams. This one is from "Sanctified". It starts slowly - as many of these tracks do, then builds and swells in frenzied desperation.

"Why?" Asks Rytkönen  in this slow, bittersweet number. The vocals are achingly mournful, almost lost. I think this is a song about the dissolving of a relationship. His voice is a little softer here, less raw around the edges, melodic and melancholic. From "Sanctified".

We conclude with another brandnew track - "Symphony of the Damned" an extravagant almost 10-minute track tinted with a range of bitterness, anger, desperation and despair - all of which Rytkönen's voice does very well. I cannot imagine him ever sounding truly happy.

This was the first Morgana Lefay album I owned, and in all honesty, probably the only one I really needed. The songs follow a similar structure - slow beginnings, bitter but sweet vocals, building into a heavier eruption of sound and with a strong atmosphere of the slightly sinister, slightly macabre. The lyics are also really interesting and, for the most part, completely audible. It contains two or three tracks from each of their previous albums and four that have not been on anything else, and is a rather nice "snapshot" of their career up to (and including) 1995.

I rate it 7.5/10.