Soldiers of the Night is really good, but I wouldn't put it on the level of Digital Dictator or Welcome to the Ball. Ride (into the Sun) and Blistering Winds fucking kill, though.

Yeah Caerballsacks just linked that in the chat. Pretty dope oi, added to my "To Get" list and whatnot. I managed to get a girl hooked on Liege Lord this week, which was pretty surprising! Weilding Iron Fists, motherfuckers!

Blistering Winds > Digital Dictator + Welcome to the Ball

I always have to listen to this song about 6 or more times in a row.

Pff, go listen to Proud Existence.

*failsafeman worships altar to Carl Albert he keeps in his closet*

I've said this before, but Carl Albert is probably my favorite heavy metal vocalist who isn't John Arch. He's just incredibly charismatic, and makes everything sound effortless. He might not be as mystical-sounding as Midnight or as manly-sounding as J.D. Kimball, but he's endlessly versatile and just absurdly fun to listen to.

I saw two Vicious Rumors sets in January. They were good but not great. Instruments were all awesome (except one song where one guy was out of tune) but their singer isn't that great. He did "Soldiers of the Night" really well. "Razorback Blade" he did okay, but not nearly as good as the recording. Most of their sets were Carl Albert stuff and those he could barely pull off, if at all. He did "Down to the Temple" pretty well, but that's one of the lighter vocal songs I think. He's a pretty different style of singer than Carl Albert too, which didn't help. However lots of people that weren't familiar with Vicious Rumors walked away from the gigs just astounded, so maybe I was just overly critical. They changed up their setlists between gigs quite a bit, which was cool. Here's what I remember:

Digital Dictator
Hell Raiser
WarBall
Let the Garden Burn
You Only Live Twice
Lady Took a Chance -> Down to the Temple
Minute to Kill
Soldiers of the Night
Don't Wait for Me
Razorback Blade
(On the Edge or Ends of the earth, can't recall)

Probably a few more tunes I don't remember or didnt recognize. Got to meet Geoff Thorpe, he was really chill and friendly.

bahahahahaha, i lol'd. First line. hahahahahahahaha! That is so Oblarg. But yeah in all seriousness - Albert is pretty boss.

Carl Albert's son is actually a great singer and I really wish he was singing in VR.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4NFNWc4jO0

Oh, really?

Vicious Rumors's first four albums are absolutely amazing. Everything really comes together perfectly on those albums, particularly with Carl Albert on the last three of those. They're actually one of my favorite power metal bands of all time.

Also, I actually rather liked the new Angel Witch track. I'll definitely be picking up the new album. Sure, the vocals are wonky but that's always been the case with Angel Witch. I was rather pleasantly surprised by the quality of the new track. Those who were criticizing Kevin Heybourne's vocals need to go back and really listen to the debut; his vocals haven't really changed that much.

Hell yeah, he would've been a cool choice. On that note it's too bad Ulysses Siren weren't huge, that compilation is insane.

Has VR ever played "Blistering Winds" live without Vinnie Moore? I wonder if Thorpe can pull it off... lol.

Which basically means "his vocals are still sucky". The guy has no power or passion (at least nowadays) behind his voice, and as a result ends up sounding boring. At least he had tons of enthusiasm in AW's debut, but then again, that album is held up together by the riffs, not the vocals.

They change the second half of the solo a bit when they play it live these days. I'm fairly sure Thorpe *could* play it, but he's never been one for neoclassical, melodic shred (that was what Mark McGee was there for)

I think he sounded pretty boring on the debut as well but, yes, your description of the situation is fairly accurate.

Yeah I remember him saying that in some interview. Thorpe's still one of the best either way, gotta love his style.

The solo at the end of Don't Wait for Me is probably my favorite Thorpe solo of them all. Fucking superb, aggressive USPM soloing at is best.

Angel Witch and Fates Warning! What could go wrong?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DYxYnpe82c

Hahaha that must've been during their really early days.

Is it useful to revive and answer this question?

http://grooveshark.com/#!/s/Believer/1Z9mc9?src=5

PS: Power metal fait avec le plus pur fromage français

Carl's great, but I'd take any of those other singers other him. He's great, though... maybe I prefer that the other singers just have more distinct voices. Arch is a Sorcerer, Midnight is some overly melancholic strange lord (a perfect voice for Poe), and J.D. Kimball is just Gonad the Barbarian. And yes, that was the most Oblarg post of all time.

Haha, Arch's voice is crazy on this Angel Witch cover.

I think of Arch more as some kind of ethereal entity rather than a sorcerer. He's what I imagine an elemental spirit would sound like.

John Arch is the wind whistling through the trees, Midnight is a mad poet haunting an opera house (it's the mask, man) Kimball is obviously Gonad of Barbaria, and Carl Albert is a trash-talkin' street urchin prowling the alleys with a switchblade and a chain. Or whatever

^ Fuck that was pretty awesome, hahahah.

I'm having a hard time getting into John Arch's vocals. So intensly nasally.

And Harry Conklin is God.

YES. His vocals in Satan's Host are ridiculously good.

You'll get used to it. Believe me, I hated the guy too when I first got into Fates Warning.

And I strongly support the idea of Harry Conklin being God Himself. How can a guy preserve his voice so well after almost three decades is something that escapes my comprehension.

Hehe.

For Arch, I'd say he does sound quite a bit more clearer on ATG... but I've just been more into that one lately as you guys know instead of Spectre. Never really had any issues with him myself though, it was the whole albums in general that took a little while to grow on me.

Why would anyone deliberately imitate Mustaine? I've always heard his vocals described as something that no one really likes, but can be gotten used to.

I've always heard there are people out there who don't dig Arch's vocals but i never understood it at all. I love those FW albums and find the vocals to be rather boss.

C'mon man, don't tell me that kind of nasal, extremely high pitched wailing wouldn't bother lots of new comers. It even happened to me.

I never *hated* Arch's voice, but it did take a few listens for his vocals (and for the rest of the music) to really sink in. I still remember the first time I really got early Fates Warning - I had put Spectre on as background music and suddenly found myself listening to The Apparition and realizing, "this is fucking awesome!." That album was playing constantly for a long time after that. Guardian came a bit later, but I hold both in equally high regard now (perhaps a slight edge to Guardian).

Interestingly enough, the one Fates Warning album I absolutely detested when I first heard it was A Pleasant Shade of Gray, which is now one of my favorite albums. You have to be in the right mood to listen to it, but holy shit it works when you are.

Nah man, i mean it was many years back when i first discovered Fates Warning, and i was instantly converted. Those were the Arch era albums, and i found them killer. Listening to FW these days is a rather rare thing for me, but when i do, those early albums still kick my ass hard. In fact, i need to listen to them more often. I really don't see what all the fuss is about those vocals eh. Arch is in no way a favourite singer of mine (Midnight, anyone?, and i believe we've tackled Conklin et al) but I really just can't see where dudes seem to get this distaste for him from.

Ah, I get you now. And speaking of A Pleasant Shade of Gray (or any post-Arch record); I can't stand Ray Alder's voice. He sounds so flat it's unbearable.

His vocals on APSoG are brilliant, they really fit in with the whole concept of the album. Nothing else quite captures that sort of rainy day melancholy so well.

I don't think he's a bad singer per se, but his voice itself just bores me to tears. He seems to have no edge whatsoever to his voice, like Timo Kotipelto.

Yeah, he doesn't have any edge - that's why he's shit on anything even moderately aggressive (if you need proof of this, go listen to Redemption). But for what mid-period Fates Warning were doing (everything from Perfect Symmetry through Disconnected), he's perfect.

He certainly fits the music, but then again, I don't care at all about post-Arch Fates Warning, so that's not exactly a compliment on my part.

Some of the best Fates Warning material came after Arch in my opinion. And as for Alder not having an edge to his voice, guys Arch didn't have an edge either. They are both very clean melodic metal singers but it works perfectly for the music and I personally have a preference for that kind of style anyways.

I know we've discussed this before Oblarg, but anyways. While i absolutely adore Parallels, i just really have a difficult time trying to get into APSOG. It just....doesn't seem to have the same magic. While a lot of people find Parallels to be boring, 90s sounding prog rock, i think it's great. There is a lot of feeling to the songs and some very deep, reflective lyrics, but APSOG seems to lack the flow and poignant qualities that Parallels has. I will revisit it soon and hope it sounds better next time round.