Release Yourself
Hellish screams thunder from the ground as guitar lines from fly through the air at lightning speed; amid the chaos, Mr. Dave Cardwell of Raise the Shield exclaims: "Twenty years and life's a cliche; / and ever faster, they're passing away." Fortunately for Mr. Cardwell there is nothing clicheic about his THIRD brilliant release in about as many months, Release Yourself. This is, again, high-voltage power-tinged thrash metal of superb and almost unsurpassable quality. The riffs are as bone-shattering as Exodus, coupled with same melodic intensity of the 80s glam greats such as WASP or Motley Crue. Catchy as all hell choruses like Helloween did back in their day will be bounding around your brain for days to come as will the ferocious Paul Gilbert (Racer X) styled fingerwork licking at every spare note throughout. Oh, and that's just in the stunning opener, End in Violence.
If you can refrain from repeating this stellar opener, it leads on to the self-titled pearler, Release Yourself. A defiant shout of "Oh Yeah!" leads this raucous and rebellious number with a great back beat that reminds one of old school punk - not that bullshit you hear on MTV these days, but the greats - Rancid, Black Flag, Danzig. Deliciously polished off with a blistering twin guitar attack in the greatest traditions of Judas Priest or Helloween, it'll leave even the most advanced and cynical fretheads breathless. Kiss Your Ass Goodbye is the curious lovechild of Dave Mustaine (Megadeth) and James Hetfield (Metallica), the vocals leaning towards the latter, the riffery carried by the former with a creamy, flurorescent solo to blend it all together. Storm does as it's name hints, lumbering into your speakers like an old Testament track, with a forboding, old school death metal vibe running thick and unrepentantly through.
Then, the gentle strains of an acoustically driven ballad (Sadness in our Hearts) fill the room. My heart stops; do my ears decieve me? Has Mr. Cardwell, thrash rocker with steel flowing through his veins, softened on me? Luckily, he handles his first mushfest admirably, much like in the same way Zakk Wylde can sing about kittens and still maintain his macho persona at the same time. The crunch paired with his melancholic and sincere vocals march along with a reverential pace until a Pantera like riff gathers around towards the end of the song, it's endearment heightened and sculpted into an indictment to all the failed balladeers that have come before him.
Watcher is a bit more European in flavor taking the best of their power and thrash style and raising an American flag on top of it all, with shades of Iced Earth creeping through. Free is another one of my personal favorites, endearingly nihlistic in tone, it just drips of that decadence and indulgence of the L.A. hard rock scene - Dokken, Quiet Riot, Skid Row all inspirations for this deliciously self-destructive and satisfying song. He ends the CD with another balladic song, showcasing his instrumental talents with some truly sensational fingerwork highlighting this personal and tender track, his vocals as crisp and cold as the slowly decending winters' Snow.
I've always theorized there's three types of metal guitar players. All of them upon hearing the solo in Metallica's magnum opus One they either; lock their guitars in a cupboard for all eternity; attempt to practise until their fingers bleed to match the dexterity of Kirk Hammet; or in Mr. Cardwell's case, get so good you can top it with your own personal finish. This is a talent heinously ignored by major record labels, and to their detriment. He handles the production to a near-professional level which is simply astounding, considering he composes, performs all instruments and finances these records by himself. If you like heavy metal from the 80s and 90s concieved with a real love for the music with an intelligent and creative spin, buy this CD. The killer chops and uncompromising riffs contained within his three releases should be setting the metal scene ablaze, but unfortunately has yet to make a spark - but one day soon, it definitely will.
My only criticism? It's too short! I just cannot get enough of this brilliant music - get up and bang your head! Release Yourself from tired, navel-gazing mediocrity - this is the real deal!
Rating: 9 / 10
Standout Tracks: All
2/9/2007 Eyeless Sentry
The power/thrash fusion was never something I've been really comfortable with. The two genres really are polar opposites when you get down to it: thrash, the dirty, scar-ridden fusion of punk and heavy metal, concerned with political issues and violence against posers, and power metal, lofty, epic, clean-voiced traipses into the land of fantasy. Congruent? Not really; but bands persist in attempting such a combination on a regular basis, with highly mixed results. It seems that the vast majority of the time, you just end up getting a rather aggressive breed of power metal rather than a genuine input of 'thrash'; but I suppose that's just the way these things go.
Raise The Shield, however, is one of the better instances of power/thrash I've had the pleasure to encounter. Yes, they fall into that general 'aggressive power metal' mold, but they're able to transcend the stereotypical trappings of that style (tough guy posturing doesn't work very well with falsettos) and instead concentrates simply upon weaving catchy, memorable tunes. This is highly guitar-based music, and highly melodic; vocals and lead guitar lines are constantly weaving in and out of each other, and in an actually pleasing way. The guitar playing here is surprisingly technical at times, but for the benefit of the melody, not to try to impress the listener. The guitar lines on opener 'End In Violence' are a wonderful example of this: melodic, emotional, and powerful, while still sounding unique and compelling.
There's a definite 80's vibe to the proceedings, but in a good way. The music is in no way cheesy; it just possesses that same sense of drama and power of the music of that decade. Apart from the beautiful guitar melodies, the other instrumentation is nothing to shrug off: drumming is technically capable and surprisingly speedy at times, and the vocals, though a tad flat at times, are a strong, forceful clean (bass is, as usual, mostly inaudible). There's a somewhat rockish sense of songwriting here, such as on 'Kiss Your Ass Goodbye', with its drifting held chords and propulsive drum presence. The second half of this disc takes the tempo down a notch, but stays mostly effective, reminding one a lot of 80's style rock (the good kind), and retaining its power and melody handily.
Only a couple flaws are present. The vocals, while generally quite good, could use a bit more force and intensity at times. While the production is clear and audible, the music would be better served by dropping the drums back slightly and bringing the guitars and vocals forward to better demonstrate the fantastic melodic sense Raise The Shield holds claim to. In addition to this, drums are produced rather strangely; very wide and flat, with a particular rehearsal room sound that doesn't quite mesh with the rest of the music.
Despite these shortcomings, 'Release Yourself' is a highly pleasing listen to all fans of melodic metal. I'm very interested in hearing where the band goes from here; such a release is already highly accomplished, and only promises good things for the future.
Noktorn - Very good, highly melodic power/thrash - 87%
