American and European Metal

I've never really given Epica a fair shot. Would you recommend that album over the others?

Crimson Idol said:
I do think part of the chorus to BNW sounds strained, as does Mother of Mercy (which is a shame cos the rest of the song is awesome imo). But I think the most strained I can hear these days is actually The Trooper. Perhaps it's just me but he really does sound like he's struggling with it.
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I completely agree. Although it is a monumental live staple, I don't think it'll be too long before we hear this song dropped, down-tuned, or with some heavy alterations on the vocal melody.
 
Maiden should've started downtuning songs back when Blaze was in the band. Priest does it and it works like a charm.

Bruce strains on Mother Of Mercy which is tuned down to D, that's a whole step. Can't imagine how much he would struggle if they did it in standard tuning.
 
Judging by him struggling on that track, I'm pretty sure they down tuned because he was having trouble with E. Talisman is in D too, now that I think of it. He hits crazy high notes in that one as well.
 
MrKnickerbocker said:
I've never really given Epica a fair shot. Would you recommend that album over the others?
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Yes! A PERFECT album if there ever was one. Some argue the only blemish is the appearance of Tony Kakko (from sonata arctica), but I liked it. I liked their previous albums, but this one... mind... BLOWN.
 
Mosh said:
Maiden should've started downtuning songs back when Blaze was in the band. Priest does it and it works like a charm.
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This. People bash Ripper for being a 'clone' of Halford, but he both had his own style on the new (at the time) material, and he was capable of covering the Halford material with that small adjustment - Blaze on the other hand couldn't do the Bruce material at all, a change of tuning would've helped.
 
They down tune with Halford too, works great for him as well. Also gives the music a heavier edge.
 
Crimson Idol said:
This. People bash Ripper for being a 'clone' of Halford, but he both had his own style on the new (at the time) material, and he was capable of covering the Halford material with that small adjustment - Blaze on the other hand couldn't do the Bruce material at all, a change of tuning would've helped.
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I give Maiden credit for not just getting a Bruce clone, because I do not think that would have worked. I think going in another direction was a good idea, but they could have helped Blaze out a bit more on the live stuff and I think he just has a boring voice. It is nice to listen to for a few songs, but a whole album is tasking.
 
It certainly would have helped Blaze. Just listen to Silicon Messiah. It's clearly dropped a bit, and he sounds fantastic. Either they weren't willing or he was too prideful to ask. I think we're still a couple years away from tuning down half or full step for Bruce, though some songs could be there already (i.e. "The Trooper").
 
Hi I am new on this forum. I found the analysis of the first post very interesting. It seems true that there is a lot more fantasy in European metal than in American one. But some European bands are really politically oriented. Kreator (German) is a good example. No fantasy in Kreator's music, they are always revendicating their hate against capitalism system for example. GAMMARAY deals with both fantasy and politic with many songs about freedom or against the worldwide leaders.
 
When I wrote it I was merely pointing out some trends I had noticed. Of course it isn't meant to be a monolithic representation of the U.S or Europe, there are exceptions. But lets take the U.S and U.K as small examples. The Beatles were influenced by Elvis and American Rock. Scores of bands later (not just in the U.S) were influenced by the Beatles. More recently U.K artists like Amy Weinhouse and Adele are heavily influenced by American Jazz/R&B and selling it back to American Audiences. It is a constant back and forth. Metal is no different. There are American bands that have their good dose of Fantasy (Kamelot) and as you pointed out the political European band.
 
Hey, @Heavylution, introduce yourself! http://forum.maidenfans.com/threads/new-posters-who-are-you.15269/page-46

Heavylution said:
Hi I am new on this forum. I found the analysis of the first post very interesting. It seems true that there is a lot more fantasy in European metal than in American one. But some European bands are really politically oriented. Kreator (German) is a good example. No fantasy in Kreator's music, they are always revendicating their hate against capitalism system for example. GAMMARAY deals with both fantasy and politic with many songs about freedom or against the worldwide leaders.
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I think it's a fair statement to say that (in general) European metal bands lean more towards fantastical and fantasy-based lyrics, whereas American metal bands are more concerned with emotion and politics. Obviously, there are exceptions on both sides, but this is a generalization I can support.

Onhell said:
When I wrote it I was merely pointing out some trends I had noticed. Of course it isn't meant to be a monolithic representation of the U.S or Europe, there are exceptions. But lets take the U.S and U.K as small examples. The Beatles were influenced by Elvis and American Rock. Scores of bands later (not just in the U.S) were influenced by the Beatles. More recently U.K artists like Amy Weinhouse and Adele are heavily influenced by American Jazz/R&B and selling it back to American Audiences. It is a constant back and forth. Metal is no different. There are American bands that have their good dose of Fantasy (Kamelot) and as you pointed out the political European band.
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Very good points. It's a constant give and take.

Though with Kamelot, I must point out: 2 out of their 3 singers (and the only two that matter) are European.
 
Yep, they record all their stuff in Germany (Wolfsburg) so I'd even say, that they -as a band- are "based" in Europe.
 
Despite being german, the best Bruce replacement would have been Michael Kiske.

Any fans of Edguy here? I love Mandrake, it has such a classic power metal sound to it, and is Tobias Sammets best vocal performance. Trying to sound like Kiske resulted in a top notch performance.

Many don't consider their last 3 power metal. I think Rocket Ride was though, for the most part. What do you guys think?
 
I have made my position on that quite clear in the past, it seems. ;)
 
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