Power Metal. Most folks either love or hate it and there’s almost no in-between. Unless you work @ RMR, of course. But even here it’s complicated. We do love AND hate it, believe it or not. Or love to hate it, or vice versa. Yet again, the RMR crew adopted a fair number of Power Metal pieces over the years, so the hate won’t reach too far. It must be that closet fan thing you do late at night when nobody’s watching. The booty we amassed to date ranges from truly excellent fare, over runaway and over-the-top Mad Max gas guzzlers, to plain stupidity.
Now here, Ascension and their new piece Under the Veil of Madness whacked us over the head somewhat fierce. A high-octane affair that made us slap them security belts on in the midst of that metallic storm. And after a while, the record feels as if the new stormy Frozen Crown piece was destined for weaklings after all. That’s of course not the case, but you get my drift.
I mean, they start straight with their flagship called Sayonara1 and you just call on the cheese-lovin’ Gods ov Power Metal to explain themselves. Because the track is totally overwrought and – at the same time – a masterful tour-de-force of all things PM.
Then I thought that the keyboard geekery on Under the Veil is genuinely astonishing. Until I realized that there is no keyboardist far and wide – with a few short exceptions (Monster, for instance). Instead, it must be the wannabe key dude Frazer Edwards and his buddy Stuart Docherty on overheated fretboard duty. But hey – kudos right here, the way they deliciously abuse their axes just left us stunned. Especially the sometimes endless solos positively glued our earphones to our suffering skulls. That’s true shredding wizardry right there – and at a scale seldom seen to date.
Now, let’s move over to young Richard Carnie. Yes, that guy with that set of pipes others would dearly like to have. And I daresay, his vox would be at home in both Power or Heavy Metal. He majestically performs in Full Metal Jacket mode with hollers that would make screamers like Brittney Slayes (Unleash the Archers) give up in despair. But hold on to something, you’ll also find him at ease in varieté-style or classical settings. So, Mr. Carnie here can do full-fledged high-speed metal and opera at the same time. And that’s impressive.
But Ascension here won’t only do high-speed Power Metal fare. You’ll find asylum-ready delirious tunes that – again – are masterfully but equally powerfully constructed (Under the Veil of Madness, the title track). The weirdest parts sound a bit like Ren on speed. This one comes with some discrete strings attached in the background – and it feels like some mad circus just descended on ye. In fact, the record is full of those nuggets to the point that it left us dizzy after a while. But all that variety and breaks to other tunes, ambients, acoustic interludes, sudden bass solos, and so on, keep the listener riveted to the disk for the full hour of airtime.
Ultimately, methinks that 2023 doesn’t look as bleak for Power Metal as we thought after all. Under the Veil of Madness clearly is annoyingly yet deliciously overdone. The band happily rushes into the fray for moar and giddily deliver – too much of everything. But behold, there’s nothing wrong with that. This is exactly what makes the record tick. Because – you see – production, arrangement, songwriting, vocal and musical performance, and execution are top-notch. And apart from some noodling about in certain parts, the RMR crew found not much to take exception with. There are no weak songs on Under the Veil, just a superb load of metal that roars down that highway without regard to speed controls. Exactly how it should be.
Ed’s note: And – drumroll – the record’s made it onto our 2023 Top Ten list. Congrats!
Record Rating: 9/10 | Label: Self-Released | Web: Official Band Site
Release Date: 24 February 2023
- Goodbye in Japanese. Weird way to start a record, though. Just sayin’. -Ed.-↩