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Overdrive: Angelmaker

Melodic Heavy/Power Metal

4.0/5.0

Lion Music
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by Craig Hartranft,  01.17.2011

Sweden's Overdrive is back for the heavy metal attack on this year's Angelmaker. If you raised the horns for the NWOBHM sound of 2008's Let the Metal Do the Talking, then you'll want to pump your fist to Angelmaker. Overdrive has been doing serious melodic heavy/power metal since 1980, and Angelmaker is another blistering edition.

The music is diverse, but fundamental on Angelmaker. The fundamental traditional metal elements are Overdrive's strengths: a deliberate and aggressive rhythm section, a twin guitar assault, melodious arrangements, and strong, yet harmonious, vocals and vocal arrangements. Songs like Signs All Over, In Gut We Trust, and See the Light, prove that metal can be both heavy and melodic (without pursuing hardcore or death vocals). Given the epic quality of Mother Earth and the closer, the Iron Maiden-like The Wavebreaker, Overdrive shows both their intensity and talent for solid metal.

While Angelmaker delivers the traditional heavy metal goods, it's not without some warts. For instance, To Grow and It's a Thriller smack of typical (yet quite good) Euro-power metal and nothing more. The metal variation of I Know There's Something Going On seems to play on commercial accessibility. (The song, written by Russ Ballard (Argent), was recorded in 1982 by ABBA singer Anni-Frid Lyngstad (Frida) for the solo album of the same name.) These notes don't diminish the whole of this work. Every genre and band echo some redundancy.

Ultimately, as said earlier, if you dig the modern renaissance of classic melodic heavy metal, Overdrive's Angelmaker is both authentic and entertaining. There's some outstanding, but also predictable, tunes here. Recommended.

If you dig the modern renaissance of classic melodic heavy metal, Overdrive's Angelmaker is both authentic and entertaining. There's some outstanding, but also predictable, tunes here.

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Formed in 1999 by singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Erik Martensson, Sweden's Eclipse is well into their third decade of making music. In the recent past, their recordings and reputation have ... [ Read More ]