Damn, I love watching the Olympics. As a former high school and collegiate shot putter, I am captivated mostly by the track, field, and weightlifting events, but my interest goes beyond that into watching the incredible performances in volleyball, rugby, and gymnastics as well. Many of my favorite events are judged by very objective standards like distance thrown, time run, points scored, or weight lifted, but while watching gymnastics, I realized that calculating a score comprised of subjective ‘difficulty’ and ‘execution’ ratings is not unlike what your favorite Angry Metal reviewers do when scoring albums. Yeah, that new avant-garde, technical, progressive disso-grind album may have an insane difficulty rating, but the chances of the band sticking the dismount is next-to-none, in my humble opinion. I believe every reviewer falls somewhere along a spectrum between valuing difficulty over execution, and vice versa. I am firmly in the ‘execution’ camp. I really don’t care if a band is doing something new with their sound; all I care about is: ‘did they nail it?’
When All for Metal released their debut album, Legends, just barely over one year ago, my relationship with metal and metal writing was in a dark place. After I saw/heard the singles for that debut, I initially waved these guys off as just another Sabaton, Brothers of Metal, and/or Manowar rip-off (albeit with a side of Disturbed), so it came as a total shock when the album’s cheesy anthems finally clicked, reigniting the dying embers trapped within my downtrodden heart of steel. Having said that, Legends’ success did little to assuage my fears that following up that record after so short a time might be biting off more than All for Metal could chew, but I’m happy to report that these lads and lasses are more than up to the task on Gods of Metal (Year of the Dragon).
While All for Metal’s songwriting style tends towards the generic, the execution is impressive. I had a tough time choosing a single to embed since they all highlight some aspect of the band’s strengths, but I ultimately went for “Path of the Brave,” a ballad that properly shows off All for Metal’s secret weapon: singer Antonio Calanna. This guy could sing the phonebook and I’d probably give it a 3.0. He takes good songs like the title track, “The Way of the Samurai,” and “Valkyries in the Sky” and elevates them to greatness. After the band’s resident mountain of power, Tetzel (also of Asenblut), begins “Who Wants to Live Forever” with his Arnold Schwarzenegger-on-even-moar-steroids singing voice, Calanna gives a heartfelt performance that ends the album on a surprisingly powerful, somber note.
There are a couple of things I’d change about Gods of Metal, but they are relatively minor. “Like Loki and Thor” feels like a 0.3-point deduction as it falls into good-but-nearly-filler territory; it’s just a little too campy and fails to induce the same level of excitement as its neighbors. I don’t mind the guest singing of Burning Witches’ Laura Guldemond on “Valkeries in the Sky,” but I’d honestly rather Calanna had sung the whole thing because he’s just much, much better. While Calanna gets MVP honors again, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention All or Metal’s guitar duo, Ursula Zanichelli and Jasmin Pabst. These ladies are able to take a very modern, crunchy approach to the guitar and make it feel right at home amongst the traditional ethos of these metal anthems. The songs may be straightforward, but there are enough licks and leads thrown in to make them feel molten and vibrant.
All for Metal’s approach does not come with a high difficulty rating, so their execution is of the utmost importance. They absolutely delivered on debut Legends, and while I doubted they could repeat after so short a time, Gods of Metal (Year of the Dragon) gets high marks as well. These guys seem to have garnered quite the following in a very short amount of time, and it’s easy to see why: they’ve made metal fun again. Cheers to these brothers and sisters of metal, and may the blood on their katanas never dry!
Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 5 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Reigning Phoenix Music
Websites: allformetal.com | facebook.com/allformetalofficial
Releases Worldwide: August 23rd, 2024
