The Perseverance Of Ignorance [Night Conquers Day]
11.
World Turns [Last Disciple]
12.
Strange World [Innocent Exile]
Based on the same concept as theMaiden America Iron Maiden tribute album, this double-CD compilation features a first CD with Maiden covers and a second one with original compositions. Although, like many such releases, the quality is somehow uneven, it is indeed a very decent tribute to the gods. The bands are internationally diverse and include Metal outfit from unexpected places such as Cyprus or even India. All in all, it is pretty good, with renditions quite close to the Maiden sound that we all know and love, and that may therefore lack originality in this respect, along with original songs that are most enjoyable to discover in most cases.
DELUSION
– 22, Acacia Avenue (Harris, Smith)
Delusion is an American Progressive Metal outfit from Maryland formed in late 1995 by Phil Carnes (ex-Desolate) and that sadly seems to have disappeared soon after the release of their 2003 album, The Tragedy of Regret. Their cover of "22 Acacia Avenue" is actually quite good, and so is their Queensrÿche-influenced original song, "Feel This Way",which features on the Tragedy of Regret album.
ASKA
– Flight Of Icarus (Smith, Dickinson)
The cover version of "Flight Of Icarus" by this Texan band is very decently performed and close to the original. Their song, "The Stalker" (from the 1997 Nine Tongues album) is a brilliant piece of 80s-style traditional Metal, which is lyrically reminscent of a cross between Maiden's "Prowler" and "Killers". Strong influence there!
MESMERIZE
– The Prisoner (Smith, Harris)
This Italian band delivers an efficient rendition of "The Prisoner" as well as a good original song, "The Werewolf" (from Tales Of Wonder, 1997).
SEASONS
OF
THE
WOLF
– Flash Of The Blade (Dickinson)
This is a strange cover of "Flash Of The Blade" that also quite funny, although it probably wasn't intended to be. Listen to the hilarious chorus with the singer who sounds like he's been sniffing helium, and to the ridiculous solo part with the little organ in the background. A bit of a flop, I'd say. "October Moon", from their 1996 eponymous album, is quite decent, although not really exceptional.
An interesting debut from this self-proclaimed 'new-age metal' band. A variety of influences can be heard here, but their basic sound is rooted in 80's hard rock/metal. There are very slight progressive and gothic influences on display here, but not enough to categorize the band as either prog metal, or certainly not gothic. Traces of early Blue Oyster Cult are occasionally heard (this is mostly due to the keyboards), as well as Savatage, Faith No More, and a host of others – really, no one influence dominates, but rather it is the blending of many influences that gives the band quite an original sound. While both albums retain the same basic style, the newer Lost In Hell is where the band is really starting to come into its own, with more diverse songwriting and a generally more mature presentation. Really, these guys should be signed – quite interesting.
Gooseflesh is a Swedish Death/Industrial Metal band that seems to have disappeared. Their rendition of "Killers" has the merit to be quite original and well performed. Very good cover. "Suffer Age", from Welcome To Suffer Age (1998), is also an excellent song if you like this style.
DIPHTHERIA
– The Trooper (Harris)
This band from Cyprus offers here a rather bland cover of "The Trooper", although their original song, "Living To Die" – without being really original (pardon the pun!) – is quite reasonably good.
This self-labelled "High-Velocity Speed Metal" band from California delivers a pretty average cover of "Wrathchild", as well as an average original song with "Synthetic Suicide". An average band.
MOKSHA
– Can I Play With Madness (Smith, Dickinson, Harris)
Starting with the riff of "Bring Your Daughter To The Slaughter", this cover version of "Can I Play With Madness" by an Indian Metal band turns into "The Trooper" just after the instrumental section of the song. An interesting medley, with a great performance both instrumentally and vocally. "Chasing My Life", from their 1999 demo, is also a brilliant song. Who would have thought that India could generate such a good Metal band?
REALM
– Bring Your Daughter To The Slaughter (Dickinson)
This band from Milwaukee does a decent cover of Maiden's "Bring Your Daughter..." and also provides a good original composition with their self-titled track.
Realm played high-speed, progressive complex thrash metal, along the same lines as, perhaps, Toxik. The vocals were at times a bit high-pitched, though elsewhere the musicianship was flawless. Both albums are relatively similar in style, with Endless War being a bit more immediate and perhaps the favored release. Some time after Suiciety, the band broke up, with several members teaming up with ex-Last Crack vocalist Buddo to form White Fear Chain, who recorded an album several years ago.
This American Black Metal outfit of the 90s has thankfully disappeared since. I'd never heard such a cheesy version of "Where Eagles Dare" before – and I hope I never will again! Even their original track, "The Perseverance Of Ignorance", is quite lame and unecessarily long. I'll therefore persevere to ignore them (bad joke, I know!).
This version of "Phantom Of The Opera" by the Germans of Last Disciple is both slower and heavier than the original. Not really a success, though, although the solos are quite interesting. "World Turns", on the other hand, is quite decent, albeit a bit lengthy.
INNOCENT
EXILE
– Futureal (Harris, Bayley)
Being an Iron Maiden cover band, Innocent Exile recorded two Iron Maiden tracks for this album, namely "Futureal" and "Strange World", none of them being particularly good.
An interesting debut from this self-proclaimed 'new-age metal' band. A variety of influences can be heard here, but their basic sound is rooted in 80's hard rock/metal. There are very slight progressive and gothic influences on display here, but not enough to categorize the band as either prog metal, or certainly not gothic. Traces of early Blue Oyster Cult are occasionally heard (this is mostly due to the keyboards), as well as Savatage, Faith No More, and a host of others – really, no one influence dominates, but rather it is the blending of many influences that gives the band quite an original sound. While both albums retain the same basic style, the newer Lost In Hell is where the band is really starting to come into its own, with more diverse songwriting and a generally more mature presentation. Really, these guys should be signed – quite interesting.
