First we examined Mystic Prophecy's 2001 debut, Vengeance. Slick production compliments the balls to the
wall shredding by Greek guitar master Gus G, who whoops a good amount
of ass between the covers of this tight riff fest, after all, what is
a good power metal album without a hero? All the elements are here,
from the meandering storyline that unites the album to the cheesy
keyboards leaping out from the mix in the more dramatic moments, but
this was not our winner tonight. To be sure this is a gonna be a sure
crowd pleaser at any gathering of power metal geeks, but I was
unimpressed by the modern rock leanings of 'Dark Side of the Moon'
and 'In the Mirror.' Nice work boys, but not enough to defeat the
contenders. Perhaps we'll ave to give them another chance sometime
with their well regarded second disc, 2003's Regressus.
Adventure in Samur Part 8.1 - Phantoms of Death
The smell of potato filled the air as
the golden shelled tot turned on the huge spit. Scattered around it
were a dozen or more villagers, dressed in their ceremonial garb.
Some stoked the flames, some turned the crank that rotated the
delicacy and some kept watch on the lake from where the water lapped
gently on the sandy beach. Bloodmace and I sat at a long wooden table
with Lars the Berserker and Mistress Crowbastard, sipping at the bone
cups of Va's excellent strong ale. At the head of the table sits
Parthon the Elder, gatemaster of Narn. He raps his cup against the
table and begins to speak...
Perhaps the most insane moments of the
night were provided by Freedom Call and their fearlessly monikered
debut, Stairway to Fairyland. With their off-the-cob synthphonic
arrangements and the whole church choir singing about flying through
time and space, this is one album that really delivered the
chainmail-clad goods. Again we have a concept album, this time with
some kind of quasi christian theme that weaves itself around the wall
to wall shredding and blasts of Yamaha DX trumpets. I have to say I
was thrilled by this one, though it would probably send most people
into fits of convulsive laughter within a matter of moments.
Adventure in Samur Part 8.2 - Ride the Sky
"The Memporian will soon rise
from its lair to feast on our offering. You have been told the legend
of the denim and leather?" Bloodmace and I nod our heads
silently, Parthon continues, "You have passed each test so far,
my brothers and there is no reason for you not to know the true
nature of the five jackets that were forged in the days of legend. As
you know, the five Wyvern kings you disposed of were bound by magical
spell to the five great houses of Centon. What the songs and stories
do not
tell, however is the tale of how the five jackets came to be,
for it was in that gray dawn, before the days of Headron that the
great families of Centon, by means of blood ceremony, bound the
physical world with the spiritual. This is why our great lake exists.
Narn was created to house successive generations of humans who will
not die but cannot exist in the temporal world. From here we ruled
the world on the other side of the wall, going back and fourth from
the spirit world and the real world by means of magical objects,
those patches that adorn your jackets." His bony finger swings
around the room. "The patches draw their power from our world
and provide us with eyes with witch to behold the physical plane. In
the days before the T'Chah Karnac ruled over Samur, the council of
five would meet every season to tend to the business of the
dimensional gates, issuing travel orders to the Gatemasters to
visitors from all over the galaxy who would come and go through the
portals in Narn and Waylor. Now, when the great upheaval came and
Headron first burst fourth into our world, the northern families, the
Huisketel and Chevelargo created the magical denim and leather armor
for the warriors who banished Headron back into his dimension. They
were sewn with the patches using the most terrifying ancient
magic
rites and your mother and father became legend when they used the
magic to defeat the usurper. But what of the other jackets? Five were
created, but only two were used to fight?" The white haired
elder pauses seriously before us, eyes darting back and fourth
between our expectant faces before continuing, "No, all five
were used in the fight against Headron. Two in the Time Desert, where
Castle Thrashstone would eventually be built and three in the sacred
places of power in Centon, worn by mystics from the east, west and
south, who transmitted their powers to the fighters over a great
distance. This feat was later accomplished by the T'Chah Karnac in a
much more efficient way in their invention, the Garm. The Wyvern's
inability to discover this secret from the mystics when they fell
from power was the main reason why the T'Chah Karnac were imprisoned
in the enchanted tree in the first days of the lizards rule. This is
your secret strength. Headron does not yet know that you have located
two of the other jackets, so when you enter Dantor, Crowbastard and
Lars must hang back in the hills near the keep while you two enter
his domain. When the battle begins, you will know and you must use
the Black Sabbath patch to link your powers and destroy Headron once
and for all."
tell, however is the tale of how the five jackets came to be,
for it was in that gray dawn, before the days of Headron that the
great families of Centon, by means of blood ceremony, bound the
physical world with the spiritual. This is why our great lake exists.
Narn was created to house successive generations of humans who will
not die but cannot exist in the temporal world. From here we ruled
the world on the other side of the wall, going back and fourth from
the spirit world and the real world by means of magical objects,
those patches that adorn your jackets." His bony finger swings
around the room. "The patches draw their power from our world
and provide us with eyes with witch to behold the physical plane. In
the days before the T'Chah Karnac ruled over Samur, the council of
five would meet every season to tend to the business of the
dimensional gates, issuing travel orders to the Gatemasters to
visitors from all over the galaxy who would come and go through the
portals in Narn and Waylor. Now, when the great upheaval came and
Headron first burst fourth into our world, the northern families, the
Huisketel and Chevelargo created the magical denim and leather armor
for the warriors who banished Headron back into his dimension. They
were sewn with the patches using the most terrifying ancient 
Edguy, what a terrible fucking name,
who the hell was at the controller for that one? Just in the past few
weeks though, I have been hipped to a few bands who I have always
avoided because of their unfortunate names, so what the hell, I
figured I would try this one too. What we got was a nice collection
of tunes from a band with no sense of style when it came to their
album covers or name. There are some questionable moments on this
disc for sure, the ballad was by far the most unbearable tune of the
night, but the great tunes on this disc, like Nailed to the Wheel and
Fallen Angels whipped us into an frenzy. The battle between them and
Freedom Call was fierce and it was looking like Edguy was gonna take
the night. Unfortunately, the ballad and the weakness of tracks like
Painting on the Wall, that sounds like the long lost Bryan Adams
song, left an opening for the Bavarian madmen, Freedom Call to come
from behind and take home the trophy.Ladies and gentlemen, your metal night champions, Freedom Call!
Words of the Elders
And so the final battle begins. Come back next week when the fearless four travel to the very gates of Lord Headron's lair. raise your fists in the prayer of our people! Horns to the sky and feet to the sea metalhead warriors. the game is afoot!
Until next week, sinful dwarves, Horns
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