Avenger

Many know Aska as "that band that toured for the US Department of Defense", often sharing poster space with Five Finger Death Punch, Hellyeah, and in case you have any vomit left in your stomach, Kid Rock. Thank God for Aska, right? They've made a career out of passable USPM that sounds marginally inspired by Blaze Bayley-era Iron Maiden, which, considering the aforementioned bands, sounds mighty fine right about now.

Avenger covers all of the bases you'd expect from a traditional heavy metal album for the new millennium. There's the vaguely Christian anthem 'Crown of Thorns', immediately followed by the S&M love song 'Leather'. Then there's an unnecessary piano interlude that you'll always skip, and from then on it's more war than Warbringer's 'Total War' from War Without End. 'Angels of War' is a mid-paced rocker with emphasis placed on harmonizing fretwork and propaganda. It ends up sounding like many oddball 90's German metal bands like Majesty, Wizard, and Solemnity.

'Crown of Thorns' and 'Lethal Injection' gallop as if their lives depended on it, and they explore an accessible array of meaty chords for choruses. These choruses also typically feature harmonized battlecries, and all of this might be setting off your 'Manowar' alarms. Aska at least seems to have a charming lack of self-awareness for this, which is something of an anesthetic. I have no choice but to admire moments like in 'Imperial Rome', where Call simply starts shouting names of emperors for no reason, like he's reading from Plato's address book. As for the singing itself, Aska's official website claims Call has a range of five octaves. To put this in much-needed perspective, Freddie Mercury was said to have 'almost five'. So sadly, I lack the grisly head injury required to believe Aska's claim, and even if Call does possess such a range, he certainly didn't utilize it in any part of this album. Fun fact though: Call would later front the most recent iteration of Cloven Hoof, and he'd do a pretty damn fine job there.

Avenger is as competent as it is predictable: nothing more, nothing less. If you're having trouble seeing the 'more' part, just pretend you're a soldier and you have the choice between this or Kid Rock.

What's this? Power metal? But Siggy...what are you reviewing some wannabe-Iron Maiden jokers rather than write 50 more reviews about all the black metal albums you've tossed your proverbially wad to ever since you were old enough to finger bang old Mary Jane rotten crotch herself?

Yes and no.

After reviewing that god-awful Aska/Hypothermia split and having to suffer through their brown metal music, I decided to throw in a completely different type of album that deserves every bit to be blessed with the BFTP tag. This time is comes from not overseas but from good old Texas in the U S of A. The band...hehe...is called Aska. Only THIS Aska is actual fucking metal while the other is nothing more than a fucking joke. I'm not a shill and I'm not dropping dime on reviewing other personal favorites from the black metal genre, but again the last one made my head explode and shit my pants from the shittiness of their brown notes.

Aska has actually been around the block a few dozen times over the years. My first encounter with this band that is literally stuck in time was of course in Metal Maniacs in probably one of my first issues I picked-up in late 1995/early 1996 still a DECENT time for Metal. I am flipping through jotting down band names to look for whenever I see a record store. One of these bands just stuck out like a sore thumb. Their name was Aska and they looked like the Iron Maiden version of the Nelson twins. "My god how lame can you get?" I probably look like Mr. GQ compared to these dudes and I'm only 14/15 years old. Aska was a band stuck in time. Playing traditional 80's metal in the form of Maiden and Priest but with a dash of power metal thrown in. Not in a bad way, and you obviously have to give them credit for soildering on especially in the mid-90's when their type of metal was for the most part shunned and laughed at. Fast forward to late 1999/early 2000. I see an advertisement in again Metal Maniacs and it was for their new album called "Avenger", and what do you know? It's actually a concept album. Up until then the only concept albums I had listened to were by none other than King Diamond.

Aska's "Avenger" is a pretty cool concept. It plays much like the Italian sci-fi Escape from New York rip-off post-apocalyptic flick "2019: After The Fall of New York" where there are two major armies in the near future and is much like a civil war. Earth's last fertile woman is alone in no man's land of the mid-west and a good guy and bad guy battle it out to save and destroy her. Good guy will preserve her in the good guy's kingdom and the bad guy will use her for evil experiments in the bad guy's kingdom. Simple stuff. A 12 year old could come up with better material. James Cameron Ask members are not, they perform their instruments better than writing stories.

George Call at times sounds like Bruce Dickinson and at times he goes for Halford. That's it. But then he does remind me a lot of Matt Barlow from Iced Earth when he goes for the epic notes that causes him to stretch certain words out....combined with his guitar playing, and second guitarist Darren Knapp, he does his job. Oh and remember that band on Metal Blade back in their early years called Omen? Yeah both George Call and drummer Damon Call were in there so they at least deserve a bit of attention if not seeing how they put out some pretty damn good power metal back in the 80's with the underrated LP "Battle Cry".

The album is nothing more than your typical power metal album. At times just down-right cheesy but in totally typical power metal fashion. That main chugging riff "Angels of War"' will have any nay-sayer think differently in no time. "Leather" is a no bullshit good attempt at Iron Maiden. I mean if the dueling guitar melodies and galloping bass lies didn't give that away but the lyrics...:shakes head:...not even Anvil could get away with hilarious lines such as:

"Sufferin' guaranteed
You go and take a chance baby
I know just how it feels - yeah, feels good

You're my leather, girl - crack down the whip
You're my leather, girl."

Watch out Edgar Allen Poe! "Escape: Victorious" has an annoying damn chorus that is repeated over and over about a hundred times. "Prelude To Darkness" is a nice little piano ballad/instrumental. Thankfully the cheesy piano stop and gives away to "Eternal Night" with it's Accept-like "Fast As A Shark" riffs. Then we get probably one of the better cuts on here called "Imperial Rome". Most of the album is enjoyable expect maybe one or two parts that get on my nerves, but it's still a good album.

One of my main complaints with this album is really the lyrics. I'm not a rocket scientist but almost everything about them is complete and total Power metal cliché; Warriors! Valkyries! Battles!, Leather! Blood! Fire! Death! Keeping it true! It's Power Metal class 101 for god's sake. The music is great, the musicians are having fun but the lyrics...if you can stomach moldy cheese more power to you. But aside the cheesy lyrics, that is overlooked by the cool cover art with some cyborg/zombie with a Freddy Krueger like right hand over the fair princesses' face. Damsel in distress? Need of something with action? YOU DECIDE!

I’m sure somewhere Aska are live Anvil and how they were about 2 years before their documentary. Playing some hole-in-the-wall shit hole for nothing. But with power metal on your side - who needs fame? You've just got to keep it true.

Songs: + 50 points
Sound production: + 5 points
Artwork: + 15 points
Lyrics: - 5 points
Musicians: + 10 points

First I have to say: this album is definitly not bad... but neither good. Its length is 50 minutas but after you put down the record you won't dream about to put it back.
I found this album easy to forget .... Most of the riffs are standard heavy metal riffs...
On the first few songs I felt strong Priest effect; later it disappered. But originality never comes...
Lack of diversity can't make forgettable the lack of origianility. Most of the songs have similar schemes. There are a few good riffs but not enough. And the songwriting is boring....
The sound is well-mixed, there are very good bass lines. And the singer has good voice too. The guitars and the drums aren't the highlight of this music, mostly hard to remember what they played. Guitars are melodic and well played and even their sound is good; but there are very few stand out riffs.
As Priest effect decrease quality grows... Best tunes are the last tracks especially Valkyre(excpet last track which is pointless)