Astronomica

When it comes to the general idea of a great metal band either having a reunion or a comeback, the ultimate test and often the worst enemy of the band doing this is expectation. This is multiplied several times if you have two bonafide classic heavy metal albums under your belt and have lost one of the greatest voices of the 80s to a complete inability to reconcile personal differences, as is the case with Crimson Glory. Ultimately, the downfall of this band is that they're a little too adventurous for their own good, something which manifested on the lackluster tribal rock album “Strange and Beautiful” and is very much present on here.

Unlike the last album they put out, “Astronomica” is a metal album, and shares some stylistic commonalities with “Transcendence”. The problem is that there isn’t really any coherent sense of direction from song to song, and sometimes individual songs come off as disjointed and schizophrenic from section to section. There is a massive collection of half ballads on here (a little more than half of the album actually) which make Iced Earth’s “The Dark Saga” sound like a 1984 thrash metal album. And unlike the older ballads with Midnight, most of them tend not to have a great deal of emotion behind them musically or vocally, typified mostly in the flat and redundant “The Other Side of Midnight”.

Wade Black vocally is quite competent, but like any vocalist who isn’t involved in the compositional process, is also completely dependent on whoever is writing the songs in order to sound good. All you need to do is listen to one verse of “War of the Worlds”, which is one of the best songs on here, to hear that these vocal lines were not written to be catchy or memorable, but to showboat a singing range that probably 90% of the human race couldn’t achieve while singing along. Even King Diamond’s most run-on verses on his lesser known works have at least some semblance of musical coherence.

When Midnight wailed away on classics such as “Red Sharks” or “Mayday”, there was a melodic point to what was going on; which can not be said for most of the vocal acrobatics that Black is being commanded to perform. And when not jumping octaves seemingly at random, Wade’s vocals will often also be either too subdued or drenched with so many studio effects that you can hardly understand a word of what’s coming out of the speakers. Listen to several sections of “New World Machine” or “Cyber-Christ” and you’ll get the general idea.

Having said all of this, there are a few solid metal tracks on here that redeem what is definitely a troubled studio album. “Cyndonia” is a solid power ballad in the same vain as “Painted Skies”; although Wade’s vocal delivery is not quite as commanding or riveting, but well done nonetheless. “Touch the Sun” also reaches back to the “Transcendence” era of the band, though a little heavier on the eastern music influences. It’s sort of a mishmash of “Eternal World” and “Masque of the Red Death” with a much more active bass presence. And despite some problems with the verses, “War of the Worlds” and the WWII inspired prelude “March to Glory” are also solid power metal, particularly in the thematic guitar melodies.

It’s a mistake to fully condemn this album, despite that this is nowhere near the caliber of what these guys accomplished in the 80s with Midnight. Most of the reviews blasting it are flying completely on the expectation of a return to what the debut and “Transcendence” were, which is unrealistic, even if the band themselves stated that that is what they were shooting for. If you take the album in itself, it’s of roughly the same caliber as Iced Earth’s mid to late 90s material, which is somewhat to be expected since both bands originated from Florida. Picture either “The Dark Saga” or “Something Wicked this Way Comes”, but with a singer similar to Tim Owens instead of Matt Barlow and you’ll have roughly the right idea.