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│ METAL CLASSICS ARCHIVE │
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│ P R E S E N T S │
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│ + Empire - Chasing Shadows (Jap. Ed.) + │
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│ │
│╔═════════════════════╗ │
│║ Release Information ║ │
│╠═════════════════════╩══════════════════════════════════════════╗ │
│║ ║ │
│║ Release Date.Jan-09-2015 Encoder......L3.97 -V2 --vbr-new ║ │
│║ Genre........Heavy Metal Graber.......EAC ║ │
│║ Year.........2007 Khz/Bitrate..44,1/ Br ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ Ripper.......anthem Songs........11 ║ │
│║ Covers.......Yes Url... n/a ║ │
│║ ║ │
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│╔═════════════════════╗ │
│║ Release Notes ║ │
│╠═════════════════════╩══════════════════════════════════════════╗ │
│║ ║ │
│║ Artist : Empire Rating : You Decide! ║ │
│║ Album : Chasing Shadows (Jap. Ed.) Label : Dingwall Music ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ ║ │
│╠════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣ │
│║ ║ │
│║ Description : ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ I've heard many things about these guys time ║ │
│║ ago. A couple of known metal vocalists like Tony ║ │
│║ Martin and Doogie White were part of this ║ │
│║ project so, as I tend to believe that worldwide, ║ │
│║ metal vocal style became more of an "i'm pure ║ │
│║ attitude" stuff instead of the all classic type ║ │
│║ of good and powerful singing, I gave a chance on ║ │
│║ this band, mostly trying to know how is it. ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ The first album by The Empire that I've took ║ │
│║ time to listen carefully was this one. Mostly ║ │
│║ because it gave me, among all the other ones, ║ │
│║ the finest initial impression. And yes, I must ║ │
│║ say we witness here a nice example of neo- ║ │
│║ classic heavy metal. The three previous albums ║ │
│║ (though I didn't took care of them as I did with ║ │
│║ this one, I'll review them as far as I can) ║ │
│║ sound erratic and with an unclear definition of ║ │
│║ the way to take for making it. Maybe a slight ║ │
│║ exception can be "The Raven Ride", which ║ │
│║ contains the filling and eclectic lines by Don ║ │
│║ Airey, from Deep Purple, no more no less, and ║ │
│║ Martin hits his best there. Here, it seems that ║ │
│║ Doogie has it more clear and provides another ║ │
│║ approach, a more straightforward yet modern one ║ │
│║ to the whole production. ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ And yes, DP classic metal sound can be found in ║ │
│║ here. Of course, with nearly 40 years of ║ │
│║ evolution, but the idea is like the same. Rolfie ║ │
│║ Munkes has a kinda Blackmore-esque style of ║ │
│║ riffing and the atmosphere leads us to the ║ │
│║ moments when Purple guys were creating In Rock, ║ │
│║ Fireball or Machine Head. Notwithstanding and, ║ │
│║ of course, modernity had chance to polish the ║ │
│║ roots in here and The Empire has its own sound. ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ Melodic vocals by the scotman with the rawness ║ │
│║ though melody-bringing compositions, that's the ║ │
│║ key for entering The Empire. The opening track ║ │
│║ is a clear handful of proof for it. But the high ║ │
│║ strike arrives with "The Alter", where the band, ║ │
│║ as an unique piece of music droppers, shoot us ║ │
│║ like machine gunners the finest metal song of ║ │
│║ the record. The riffs are gigantic and the bass ║ │
│║ lines are capable enough to stand Doogie's ║ │
│║ requierements for singing. ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ Other standouts are "Mother Father Holy Ghost", ║ │
│║ with a more mainstream approach and with Rolf ║ │
│║ Munkes and Neil Murray forming a huge society of ║ │
│║ harmonic theming. Also, "Tahigwan Nights" with ║ │
│║ the neo-classical speed metal approach and a ║ │
│║ riff which reminds us of the latter works by ║ │
│║ King Diamond and "Angel and the Gambler" which ║ │
│║ also has the radio-friendly tune and singing but ║ │
│║ works completely out, specially with Doogie and ║ │
│║ the performance of Mike Terrana in the drums, ║ │
│║ which are outstanding enough specially in this ║ │
│║ track.s ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ The main issue of this record are the rest of ║ │
│║ the songs. They are not strictly bad ones. As an ║ │
│║ unique body of work, they manage to complete ║ │
│║ corretcly their duty but somehow, their sound ║ │
│║ lies between mellowness and mediocrity. It's ║ │
│║ like they can't define clearly what do they want ║ │
│║ to do with their band. If they want to be ║ │
│║ speedy, melodic, classic-sounding or whatever. ║ │
│║ So, even if they are nice standing ones, out of ║ │
│║ the place, they have nothing to do but to fill ║ │
│║ the album. ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ After saying this, I'll admit that this band is ║ │
│║ a promising one. If they can define themselves ║ │
│║ and take a definitive path in their sounding, we ║ │
│║ can probably hear lots of great things to come ║ │
│║ from them. Let's give some time for this new ║ │
│║ line-up to put the things together and maybe we ║ │
│║ shall have a new music Empire to share the rules ║ │
│║ of this realm. ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ Doogie White - Vocals ║ │
│║ Rolf Munkes - Guitars ║ │
│║ Neil Murray - Bass ║ │
│║ Mike Terrana - Drums ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ ║ │
│╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ │
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│╔═════════════════════╗ │
│║ Release Tracklist ║ │
│╚═════════════════════╩══════════════════════════════════════════ │
│ │
│ 01 - Chsing Shadows [04:26] │
│ 02 - The After [04:24] │
│ 03 - Mother Father Holy Ghost [05:00] │
│ 04 - Sail Away [04:33] │
│ 05 - Child Of The Light [05:29] │
│ 06 - Tahigwan Nights [03:40] │
│ 07 - Manic Messiah [05:22] │
│ 08 - Angel And The Gambler [05:26] │
│ 09 - A Story Told [04:30] │
│ 10 - The Ruler Of The World [05:23] │
│ 11 - A Night Like This (Bonus Track) [04:41] │
│ │
│ Total Length : [52:54 minn │
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│ ╔═════════════════════╗ │
│ ║ Greetings To: ║ │
│ ╚═════════════════════╝ │
│ │
│ Too all people who contributes to make this │
│ archive of good music in a exceptional conditions │
│ │
│ │
│ │
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