Yes friends, whether you like it or not, it's rodeo season again!
Mike LePond's Bass-tacular Metal Rodeo, Part 2!
Elegacy - The Binding Sequence (2015)
Classic melodic prog metal with a great production and killer rhythm section (drummaster and sadly notable MAGA idiot Mark Zonder pairs well with Lepond…wait, that actually makes a lot of sense). The downfall here is vocalist Ivan Giannini who falls victim to the old Italian vocalist trope of, well, just sounding too Italian. That said: he sings very well and the melodies are super catchy. Overall: this is good despite the language barrier.
Highlights: opener April Sun is very catchy, The Dragon’s Age is almost Haken levels of wacky, When The Night Comes Down feels like a Seventh Wonder b-side, the jazzy album ending
Lowlights: The Other Me
Grade: B- 7.7/10
Waken Eyes - Exodus (2015)
A true rhythm section powerhouse unfolds across this record as Lepond teams up with the illustrious Marco Minneman. This is pure Dream Theater-style classic prog done exceptionally well. The instrumentals are incredible, the riffs are good, the melodies are emotional, and overall it’s a great prog metal record. A continuous Fates Warning-esque moodiness combined with early Dream Theater melodicism, riffing and lead playing leads to some very nice results. As with most of these projects, the vocalist is the weakest link. Swedish singer Henrik Båth has a decent voice, good range, but his pronunciation is weak and he occasionally sounds pretty strained. They do an excellent job layering vocals, though (mastering by Jens Bogren). Anyway, this is definitely worth a listen.
Highlights: both instrumentals, the neoclassical section in Deafening Thoughts, Back to Life, the epic title track
Lowlights: this album is 78 minutes long. It’s overwhelming and thus feels repetitive, even though I wouldn’t say the songs sound identical or anything. It’s just extremely bloated. Also some of the Dream Theater worship is perhaps too much.
Grade: B- 7.8/10
Ureas - The Black Heart Album (2015)
I don’t know what this is. It’s gothic, it’s a bit power metal, it’s quite a bit nu-metal (especially the terrible lyrics), and sometimes it sounds like Marko Hietala gathering a coven of witches to make spooky dumb hard rock. The vocals are very weird, occasionally reminiscent of Jonathan Davis from Korn. The thing is: this style was already lame a decade before this album was released. A lot of “dramatic” spoken word sections appear on the album and every one of them stinks. Production-wise, everything is pretty good, I just hope I never hear this trash again.
Highlights: Seven Deadly Sins has a cool intro, guitar solos are all pretty great.
Lowlights: the lyrics are terrible and never fail to drop a bunch of F-bombs in a poor attempt at edginess, at its worst in the title track (which even has a minute long intro where a guy drinks beer and calls someone a bitch). Obviously, the track Shut The Fuck Up is a total loser. Seal This Moment sounds like Nightwish as made by fifth graders.
Grade: F- (1.5/10)
Them - Sweet Hollow (2016)
Horror-tinged trad metal that owes JUST A LITTLE BIT to King Diamond (the band was originally a tribute band). The music and production are solid (though it is compressed to shit) and the vocals are fine for King worship (at first). This is a concept album about trying to resurrect a dead daughter or something so there is definitely some incredibly lame dramatic voice acting, but at least they know they’re pandering for Halloween streams. Self-editing is a big issue here as many of the songs go on for far too long (especially the Ghost-esque Dead of Night - which admittedly does have a cool bass solo underneath one of the 17 choruses). Towards the back half of the album vocalist Troy Norr starts using a gruffer, growlier style and it’s not very good (but at least it’s not King Diamond worship) and a pretty stark contrast from the goofiness of the first half. Honestly, Iced Earth fans would probably like this album. It’s a fun enough lark, I guess. The instrumentation is great, even if the vocals are mixed.
Highlights: Forever Burns, Ghost in the Graveyard
Lowlights: The Quiet Room, Festevil, Blood From Blood, some truly terrible voice acting
Grade: C- (6/10)
Two Hundred Feet - Speed of Evil (2017)
Straight up trad metal with some very good riffing and bass playing (duh). The biggest issues here are songwriting and production: both being very undercooked. The production is pretty muddy and the songs leave a lot to be desired, mostly in the vocal melody and lyrics department. Vocalist Chandler Morgan has a solid voice, but he sounds a bit too youthful for this style. Overall, despite some decent playing, this record just feels amateurish. The longer it goes on, the worse it gets. Turns out this is LePond’s Adrenaline Mob, but even more watered down.
Highlights: the title track, Shovels & Sidewinders
Lowlights: the absolutely moronic Dirty Secret, the even dumber Eye For An Eye, the Anthraxian All I See
Grade: F+ (3/10)
Eynomia - Break Free (2018)
Seems like Lepond was hard up for work in the late 2010s, as we’re back to some pretty amateurish material. Our sonic palette this time is mostly smothered in C-grade Evanescence worship with a healthy splash of Nightwishcore. The production is solid, especially guitars, bass and vocals, but the drums sound very processed. Vocalist Phyllis Rutter sounds very lifeless in her lower registers, though her higher belts are quite powerful. There’s nothing offensive here, but it does sound like someone either convinced their half-interested wife to sing for their metal project OR someone appeased their wife’s delusions of grandeur. It’s like Burger King symphonic metal. Eh, maybe worse, maybe gas station hot dog symphonic metal.
Highlights: Cleansing is decently catchy, the upbeat Take A Look
Lowlights: The ballad Through Your Eyes is quite bad. The keyboards are pretty weak. Vocals occasionally sound flat.
Grade: D (4.2/10)
