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Trollheart · 09-14-2012, 01:38 PM

Another German Power Metal band bites the dust before its time

Artiste: Metalium
Nationality: German
Album: Incubus --- Chapter Seven
Year: 2008
Label: Massacre
Genre: Power Metal
Tracks:
Trust (intro)
Resurrection
Gates
Incubus
Take me higher
Never die
At Armageddon
Sanity
Meet your maker
Hellfire
Chronological position: Seventh album
Familiarity: Zero
Interesting factoid:
Initial impression: Good, strong melodic power metal with a clear sense of Bruce's boys in the music.
Best track(s): Incubus, Never die, Resurrection, Take me higher
Worst track(s): Nothing stands out as bad, or below par really.
Comments: A powerful opening to an album that takes its place among its six predecessors and indeed its one descendant, each of which are labelled as a chapter in the career of German power metal band Metalium, but each titled differently. Sadly now no more, Metalium released their last album in 2009 and decided to call it a day two years later. From what I hear here (hear hear!) it's something of a tragedy they did, but at least they left a decent legacy of recorded output behind them before they departed. This is not to suggest that they were any that much different from other German, or indeed, just power metal bands, but then, what band is? But if that's your bag then you will not be disappointed with at least this album, the only of theirs I've ever heard.

Vocalist Henning Basse does a very passable imitation of Bruce Dickinson, while guitarists Mathias Lange and Tolo Grimalt set about creating their own sound modelled on the twin Maiden guitar attack. Basse even does a version of the “air-raid siren” trick on Resurrection, then goes all Black Sabbath on the grindy and quite excellent title track, and as the album goes along it shows quite a bit of diversity --- within the subgenre Metalium operate in --- with tracks like Take me higher appealing to the more melody-conscious, while Never die is a full-on heads-down fretfest in which Grimalt and Lange ply their trade with consummate ease.

Basse again exercises his Dickinson-inspired scream on Meet your maker and the album actually closes on something of a cruncher in Hellfire. Good stuff.

Overall impression: A sad loss to the Power Metal fraternity. Rust in peace, Metalium! Semper something.
Intention: May backtrack and check out chapters 1-6. And then 8. Maybe.

09-14-2012, 01:38 PM	#88 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,996	Another German Power Metal band bites the dust before its time Artiste: Metalium Nationality: German Album: Incubus --- Chapter Seven Year: 2008 Label: Massacre Genre: Power Metal Tracks: Trust (intro) Resurrection Gates Incubus Take me higher Never die At Armageddon Sanity Meet your maker Hellfire Chronological position: Seventh album Familiarity: Zero Interesting factoid: Initial impression: Good, strong melodic power metal with a clear sense of Bruce's boys in the music. Best track(s): Incubus, Never die, Resurrection, Take me higher Worst track(s): Nothing stands out as bad, or below par really. Comments: A powerful opening to an album that takes its place among its six predecessors and indeed its one descendant, each of which are labelled as a chapter in the career of German power metal band Metalium, but each titled differently. Sadly now no more, Metalium released their last album in 2009 and decided to call it a day two years later. From what I hear here (hear hear!) it's something of a tragedy they did, but at least they left a decent legacy of recorded output behind them before they departed. This is not to suggest that they were any that much different from other German, or indeed, just power metal bands, but then, what band is? But if that's your bag then you will not be disappointed with at least this album, the only of theirs I've ever heard. Vocalist Henning Basse does a very passable imitation of Bruce Dickinson, while guitarists Mathias Lange and Tolo Grimalt set about creating their own sound modelled on the twin Maiden guitar attack. Basse even does a version of the “air-raid siren” trick on Resurrection, then goes all Black Sabbath on the grindy and quite excellent title track, and as the album goes along it shows quite a bit of diversity --- within the subgenre Metalium operate in --- with tracks like Take me higher appealing to the more melody-conscious, while Never die is a full-on heads-down fretfest in which Grimalt and Lange ply their trade with consummate ease. Basse again exercises his Dickinson-inspired scream on Meet your maker and the album actually closes on something of a cruncher in Hellfire. Good stuff. Overall impression: A sad loss to the Power Metal fraternity. Rust in peace, Metalium! Semper something. Intention: May backtrack and check out chapters 1-6. And then 8. Maybe. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018 Last edited by Trollheart; 01-13-2015 at 11:19 AM.