Could someone please tell me why it is that fucking traditional/power metal bands always tend to have the maturity levels of 10-year-olds? These guys basically want to sound similar to Judas Priest circa "Painkiller", but their vocalist is certainly no Rob Halford, and the music is a bit more simplistic and stripped down. I mean, there are some awesome riffs here, and I like some of the melodic solos, hell... the singer can sing. Some of his harmonies are fucking great. But really, this is a boring CD, and cheesy to boot. The title "track" opens the disc and consists of nothing but goofy, overdramatic narration, which is a surefire way to doom your record from the start, and the vocalist can't just sing. No, he has to do silly little half spoken passages and whacked out harmonies that take things too far, he tries to get a little aggressive at times, etc. But he's not King Diamond either, know what I mean? He can sing very well, but only when he cuts the shit. As far as the musical problems, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the faux heavy modern groove atrocity that is the intro to "Eyes of Obsidian", and in general the band just always plays at the same moderate pace. When the tempo changes it's barely a difference, they never get too slow or too fast, it's always right there in the middle, so there's not that much energy. And like I said, most of their good riffs were lifted from the "Painkiller" handbook. The recording isn't that bad. The could stand to up the bass a little (without making things muddy), but the mix is clear and there's a good level of density. I love the clarity of the singing and the leads, for sure. The layout's 50/50. Even though the style of the artwork is silly, some of it at least looks professional (i.e. the front cover). Most of the inner artwork is awful, and the band photos are pretty cheesy as well. At least they're live shots rather than posed stills, but whatever. I can't stand the lyrics. The topics range from fantasy metal junk to sappy horseshit about September 11th with a bunch of "god bless the USA" crap. Plus they actually have a song called "Chupacabra", and I can barely tolerate such subject matter. If you love metal to the point where you still wear leather pants and jean jackets and bang your head on a daily basis - even though you're in your mid- to late-30's - then maybe Cage is the right kind of "should've hung it up when you were a kid" metal for you. I'll pass. And hey, hidden way at the end of the CD is a Spanish version of "Chupacabra"! Yeah, this band is pretty lame... it would've been awesome if they had just copied the "Painkiller" style literally note for note, though.
[Fugitive]
Running time - 64:36, Tracks: 13
[Notable tracks: good riffs don't mean good songs]
Fugitive Records - http://www.fugitiverecords.com
