Track Listing
1. Overtune 2. From the cradle to the grave 3. Days of December 4. Sign of heaven 5. Incomplete 6. Turn the page 7. Heartblood 8. Over and over 9. In vain 10. Immortal sin 11. Paint it black 12. Just alone Year: 1998 Label: GUN - Official Site |
Rage - 'XIII' - By J. Korkiam�ki
On Rage�s thirteenth studio album, Lingua Mortis has become their official orchestral aid, and it is celebrated with a sticker on the front cover and the listing of every guy and gal of the orchestra in the booklet. XIII is therefore a very neoclassical album, which doesn�t mean some Yngwie style guitar clowning but clean, heavy power metal enhanced with the help of a fully fledged symphony orchestra. I�ve lost count of how many intros I�ve heard, which go by the name of �Overture�. It begins the heaviest song on the whole album, �From The Cradle To The Grave�. When you�re singing along with the awesome chorus you can notice, that the music is quite different than before, but Peavy never loses grip on those lyrics; the lyrics on XIII are maybe even the best in Rage�s history, and an individual song with the best lyrics is without doubt the fantastic power ballad �In Vain (I Won�t Go Down)�. The bonus tracks on the digipak version of the album are exceptional on the first half of the album. �Changes� is a symphonic medley of three songs; the first one is quite fast compared to the other material, �Sign Of Heaven�, the second is once again a ballad, although with quite a good mood in the vocal lines, named �Incomplete�, and the last one is the happy happy joy joy song �Turn The Page�. The medley is cool, but none of the songs have chances to become one of the best songs on the album. There are a lot of Rage treats on the album. �Over And Over� is very similar to Trapped!�s �Enough Is Enough�, which is still one of Rage�s most popular songs, and �Immortal Sin� is a surprisingly raw song, even with the strong feedback of Lingua Mortis in the background. It�s been a long time since the band has managed to do a cover song with enough original touch to sound like the band�s own material. Rolling Stones� 60�s classic �Paint It Black� really gets the whip and is totally different from the original, the tempo has lowered quite a bit and there�s more melody. A great cover song! XIII offers the listener really great and really atmospheric metal. The album ends with the its third and very fine ballad �Just Alone�, which would�ve fitted well on End Of All Days, because of its deathly theme, and the hidden track �Another Wasted Day�, which is marked in the liner notes as �XIII�. A very Reflections Of A Shadow style song, I must say, and what the hell, that�s only good. Overall, although I had my own lowered expectations about this kind of album, XIII is an artistic masterpiece and Rage totally says goodbye to musical limits on this one, sounding like more bands than just one or two. An awesome album, which comes with a little minus due to the few too many long piano clips. Metal Obsessive Grade: 96% |