Dangerdog Music Reviews :: © 1999 - 2023 Craig S Hartranft :: All Rights Reserved
No part of this this website, including design and music reviews,
may be reproduced in any form or by any means without
the prior written permission of the publisher.
- New Music Reviews
- |
- Archives
- |
- News
- |
- Submissions
- |
- About
- |
- |
New Music Reviews, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Progressive Rock, Progressive Metal, AOR, Alternative Rock, Alternative Metal
Recent Reviews
September 2023
- Rockett Love: Galactic Circus
- Kerrigan: Bloodmoon
- Taz: Shipwrecked, Vol 2
- Taz: Wake Up & Sweat, Vol 1
- Ronnie Romero: Too Many Lies, Too Many Masters
- The Flower Kings: Look At You Now
- Vega: Battlelines
- Blackbird Angels: Solsorte
- Primal Fear: Code Red
- Eclipse: Megalomanium
- Seventh Wonder: Mercy Falls (Reissue 2008/2023)
- Seventh Wonder: The Great Escape (Reissue 2010/2023)
August 2023
- Hurricane: Reconnected
- U.D.O.: Touchdown
- Streetlight: Ignition
- Sarayasign: The Lion's Road
- Neal Morse: The Dreamer - Joseph - Part One
- Rian: Wings
- Icon Of Sin: Legends
- Lancer: Tempest
- King Kobra: We Are Warriors
- Dark Sky: Signs Of The Time
- Hell In The Club: F.U.B.A.R.
- Kent Hilli: Nothing Left To Lose
July 2023
- Turkish Delight: Volume Two
- Winterstorm: Everfrost
- Scream Maker: Land Of Fire
- James Robledo: Broken Soul
- Houston: Relaunch III
- All For Metal: Legends
- Withering Scorn: Prophets Of Demise
- Bloodbound: Tales From The North
- Kikimora: For A Broken Dime
- Degreed: Public Address
June 2023
- Night Legion: Fight Or Fall
- Midnite City: In At The Deep End
- Pyramaze: Bloodlines
- Shakra: Invincible
- Vypera: Race Of Time
- Stardust: Kingdom Of Illusion
- Pride Of Lions: Dream Higher
- Joel Hoekstra's 13: Crash Of Life
- The Defiants: Drive
- Ray Alder: II
- Art Nation: Inception
- False Memories: Hybrid Ego System
Victory At Hand: The Empire
Victory At Hand: The Empire
Keyboard-Driven Melodic Metal Rock
3.0/5.0
Facebook
Instagram
Unsigned/Self-released
Words: Craig Hartranft
Added: 01.04.2020 | Released: 03.04.2020
Victory At Hand is a new melodic hard and heavy band featuring the collaboration of Finnish singer Jone (Suicide Hotline, Twolslide) and British producer Alex Kron (Guiltz N Pleasurez). Two years ago they dropped a single, Still Standing, featuring Passion vocalist Dan Rossall. Now the duo offers their first studio album, The Empire. It's a concept album telling the story of the rise and demise of a movie theater from the 1930's to present day.
Victory At Hand
I'll try to make my observations brief in this review as I didn't really like the album. Here's why. What you have with Victory At Hand is a musical combination of melodic hard rock and heavy metal driven largely by keyboards. Keyboards being the keyword and focal point. Certainly, every song arrangement includes vocals and vocal harmony, guitars for riff harmony, bass and drums (either or both could be from programming; I don't know), and an emphasis on song melody and groove with catchy refrains. These are all very fine elements. Yet all these things are led by and superceded by the predominant keyboards. And all things in every song lead to an elaborate synth solo. As far as I could hear, there are no guitar solos. I do not care for any hard rock or heavy metal genre or band where everything revolves around the keyboards. Simple. But that's not to say that Victory At Hand is not succeeding at doing that very thing. They are indeed. Ergo, if you like completely synth-driven melodic metal rock, you will enjoy The Empire.
The Bottom Line
If you like completely synth-driven melodic metal rock, you will enjoy Victory At Hand's The Empire. I do not like the former and so did not enjoy the latter.
Find A Review
Alphabetical Index
Album of the Week
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 ]