A
pretty straightforward title for the new Loudness CD. Thanks to my friend
Hatsumi, I have been able to stay on top of the bands activities over the last
decade or so where they have only been releasing records in Japan and on a
yearly basis. This is the 2nd CD with the new drummer. The lyrics
are more political, more powerful in some way and very passionate. The CD
features 11 tracks and two of which are instrumental. I loved the instrumental
track on their last CD, Eye to Dawn. The opening track, The Stronger starts
slowly with some melodic guitar and then at 45 seconds just takes off at Slayer
like speed and attack and then the attack becomes a bit less intense when
Minora starts to sing. 2012- End of the Age is also another really aggressive
track with some killer lead guitar. It has slow and fast sections but is mostly
very intense. They lyrics are a bit depressing but true. Break new Ground slows
things down but does not decrease the intensity of the music. Driving Force is
a war song and has a very cool guitar riff and hook. I wish they did not fade
out the guitar solo at the end as it was really awesome. Amazing sound
production on this record. Behind the Scene is mid-paced and Akira kicks in
with some wah guitar but the riff is still massive and the lyrics very
powerful. Bang em Dead is a very intense track at the beginning with this
machine gun double bass but then the basic up down guitar riff rhythm kicks in
but Akria is mixing in some sool guitar every place he can squeeze it in. The
Voice of Metal (Song for RJD) is a cool song dedicated to Ronnie James Dio. A
true tribute song, done Loudness style! Who the hell Cares is a slow, really
heavy track again with potent lyrics. The ending is really nice and spacey and
totally different. Spirit of the East starts with a little bit of Hendrix
inspiration. I wish the band would do more of these style tracks as this is
such a cool track but this one was too short at 2 mins. Memento Mori is a mid
paced track about living your life. The CD ends with the instrumental Out of
the Space, another short 2min piece. I am not sure I agree with the song order
on this record but it is a great one. They put all the really intense songs
together and should have put these instrumental ones in between rather than at
the end..
The booklet is massive and the
Japanese version comes with an extra CD with just one track that is only 5mins
long, which seems like quite an extra expense for only 5mins of music. Maybe I
should throw it in a computer and see if there is a cool video on it or
something extra?? Anyway, the track is called Deep-Six the Law! It starts with
a keyboard or guitar synth and is another pretty heavy one but also one of the
most mainstream (musically). It is about the US (or any other gov’t) passing
laws that take away your freedom to see a lawyer, in the name of freedom, but’s
how can you be free if they can lock you up forever without being able to see a
lawyer and fight your case… This is not for freedom, this is for hiding away
the people who threaten to remove you from power…. Sorry for that political statement..
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