Age of Elegance

If you release a prog metal album with strong heavy/power metal influences und your compass of dynamics relies entirely on stagnant mid tempo, you better bring enough entertaining stuff with you to make it work out in the end before I spank your unruly ass with a wooden spoon. The music of Lord Bane is not entertaining in the traditional sense of the word because these riffs, rhythms and vocal lines are rather introverted, secretive and pensive in nature. It's actually very weird that they are performed nonetheless with the same vigor that helps speed metal bands into the pants of their groupies. Weird and attractive. I am not taking that back. This singer is laid back and brazen at the same time, as many great vocalists he relies on opposites to cover the full spectrum. He is still hiding his professional high screams between the other instruments until they do not steal the show anymore. It's a team effort and I love that. His classic eighties timbre does share some sentiments with the pipes of Midnight from Crimson Glory, although they differ in atmospheric directions.

I have no freaking idea how you achieve a snare drum sound like Lord Bane have on this particular album, but I'll be damned if I have ever encountered a band where such a tiny acoustic detail has fascinated me this much. It sounds triggered and not triggered at the same time, what the hell, Lord Bane? This wooden and dry snap with a juicy dose of reverb excites me with its unusual waves. Although operating in four-four-time, the hits are placed in very odd positions. And even when they are not, they still sound very serious and ominous during their linear show. It's a completely unique sound that took some getting used to but is now enhancing every spin to the maximum.

The melodies of Lord Bane are powerful and self-assured without being showy or ostentatious, which contributes immensely to the attraction of this band. No doubt, they could have recorded easy-listening sessions for a greater audience but chose not to because their inherent vision was just pulsating too strong. "Age of Elegance" escapes boredom because it always knows where it wants to go. An occasional oriental flair can't be denied in some of the songs, the unobtrusive keyboard spheres and dancing solo leads do their very best to achieve that. The rhythm guitars meander between warm and crunchy, but still delicate pounding and elegaic reveling. If you don't know how to pound in a delicate way, you should ask Lord Bane for advice. It's less time to party and rather a sign for an hour to reflect about life by the window with a chin resting on a closed fist.

In the end, what these guys really excell at is the goddamn atmosphere. Prog metal is often in danger of losing itself and every aspect of its imagery. Not so with Lord Bane, they keep a pretty tight grip on their aristocratic, pain-ridden and contemplative court of positively restrained melodies. They keep the solos short and to the point, which is a goddamn benefit in a world where every twat with a guitar has to single-handedly torture your for ten minutes before he leaves you the fuck alone. Not many albums work as well in museums as this one. Get your headphones and try it out for yourself.

The term progressive metal might have lost its clear meaning at this point, but once upon a time, there was a good chance that anything associated with it fell into the early Queensrÿche, Crimson Glory or Fates Warning vein. Enter Lord Bane, who you could link with these three bands to a certain degree and in fact, I’d like to believe that this is the album Crimson Glory could have released in the early 90’s, had they gone into a more progressive direction. Shawn Ames sounds like a dead ringer of Midnight; wailing out in the wild and you can bet he’s one of the reasons why Lord Bane rules. Another reason comes down to the bending guitars work; which makes Age of Elegance an album full of surprises. On one hand, certain thundering riffs can definitely be linked to the 80’s US power metal sound that was a force to be reckoned with. ‘Promise of Prophecy’ is the best example of such; which stylistically could have easily appeared on Crimson Glory’s Transcendence (even if I prefer it over anything on that album). On the other hand, plenty of groove-driven riffs chug and slap hard around the emotional vocal wails and gloomy haze of the keyboards.

As with plenty of earlier progressive/power metal albums, Age of Elegance evokes a fantastical atmosphere and yet it’s wonderfully sophisticated due to its progressive tendencies. Of course, this means that we're dealing with an inaccessible album and this is something I got reminded of rather quickly. Most of the songs are somewhat of a challenge and become more rewarding once you become familiar with them. Given the dynamic nature of the guitars, they rarely operate in a straightforward manner, nor do they rely on earworm-sized hooks that hammer into your brain. ‘Fawns’ is an epic opener with chants introducing the guitars going for the attack from different angles; storming their way through the labyrinthine narrative and tearing the walls with massive chugs, yet nothing ever becomes too vague or puzzling for its own good. Vocally, too, things take a bizarre, yet enjoyable turn. Shawn Ames doesn’t shy away from hitting any thundering high notes here and there, yet he refrains from relying on the upper part of his register all the time. Instead, he almost brings to mind the idea of Midnight going for the toned down gothic style that James Rivera introduced on Nosferatu.

From here, Lord Bane reveals many sides of themselves and mostly do so with superb results. ‘Like the Lion’ is a threatening animal of a track that’s somewhat groove-oriented, but I’d be lying if this doesn’t sound absolutely fantastic. Shawn Ames’ vocals explode around the stop-go riffs of punishing intensity and if only more progressive metal bands tried to ape this stuff… well, I don’t think that they could have done half of a good job. ‘Queen Ann’ tells a dramatic tale of a mystical woman that plenty of US power metal bands had a thing for. Musically, it’s another advanced take on progressive/power metal; with chopping guitars slashing their way through the challenging narrative - almost recalling Prodigy’s As Darkness Reigns; albeit without the thrash-inspired tendencies. Ending the album on a straightforward note, ‘Promise of Prophecy’ gallops through violent battlefields, with Shawn Ames commanding his soldiers into battle with his pitchy war cries. It’s the most accessible and simplistic tune on the album, sure, yet this song absolutely rips and if you’re a fan of riff-driven US power metal, then I guarantee that you’ll absolutely love it.

Now, the metallic material sounds pretty neat, but the eerie, yet melancholic ballad that is ‘If Broken Hearts Could Kill’ shouldn’t be dismissed, either. Stylistically, it’s reminiscent of Crimson Glory’s ‘Lost Reflection’, but this sounds like an even longer journey of torment and emotional suffering. Shawn Ames sounds like he’s in agony during his search for someone; gradually becoming more desperate as the song progresses. Guitars eventually kick into high gear, with a riff-happy chorus making it between the foggy keys, yet my favorite scene has to be that emotional climax after the chorus has been repeated for the second time. It’s a short, yet incredibly powerful segment, where Shawn Ames wails over a series of tensed guitar passages, then briefly disappears out of the narrative, before the guitar leads and moody keys start to conjure painful memories of love long time gone… or perhaps had never existed in the first place.

If you couldn’t tell by the rating, Age of Elegance isn’t perfect and there are two things that bother me about it. Out of all the tunes, I’m not too fond of ‘Moriah’. Even though it’s a groove-inspired behemoth with a dramatic feel to it, it falls into the laid back chugging territory. The thrilling leads rule, as do the majestic keys, but from a seven minute long tune, I’d expect the guitars to be a bit more engaging. The quiet production isn’t exactly optimal, either. It makes Age of Elegance sound like a demo and the mix is rather uneven, with keys managing to overpower the guitars from time to time and what was the last time you enjoyed that to begin with, anyway?

The flaws should be easy to overlook for a progressive/power metal freak, though. So, if you’re also into this kind of stuff, then you’ve just found yourself a new band to get obsessed with. Oh, and the artwork is also quite something... who knew that Jesus Christ looked that ripped to begin with?

This review was originally written for antichristmagazine.com

Lord Bane's Age of Elegance is one of those cult prog "classics" that doesn't deserve its warm recognition in any way. All the elements are there: an extremely small press run so that it won't get heard by enough people to exploit it for the garbage it really is, an endearing musical direction people will find themselves attached to for no real reason, and a vocalist that, at times, manages to channel the greatness of Midnight. However, this is not Crimson Glory; let me make that painfully clear. Lord Bane lacks almost everything that made Crimson Glory such a great progressive power metal band. First of all, the power. Age of Elegance is plagued by slow, prodding songs that lack any projection or heaviness. In fact, most of them barely even reach mid-pace, the worst offender being the ridiculously overlong "If Broken Hearts Could Kill (You'd Be Dead)." It's not the only one, either; even the decent songs often stretch to seven minutes or longer, and the music here just isn't suited for that. In simpler terms, the main problem with this album is that it's just boring. The absolutely terrible muffled production job certainly doesn't do it any favors, either.

If you're not familiar with the aforementioned Midnight, then you are one sorry individual and you are in dire need of Crimson Glory's first two releases. His legendary vocals were characterized by a thick thespian accent and mesmerizing, glass-breaking highs. Lord Bane's Shawn Ames is almost capable of at least imitating him, but aside from "Queen Ann", he never really does. He just stays in his aggravating comfort zone for most of the album, which is mid-range with a scratchy, thespian-gone-wrong tone in his voice. The talent is there, but he puts forth no effort whatsoever. He goes hand-in-hand with the band itself, because they do the same thing. The music is so limited and restrained, taking a slow walk on a road that always leads to nowhere. There are approximately two real "power metal" songs here, and guess what? Those are probably a couple of the worst tracks on the album. "Like the Lion" is completely average in every way, with a chorus that is so boring and uninspired it's almost a shame calling it one. "Promise of Prophecy" is terrible, however, with an apparently inept sense of melody that prevents one from ever remembering anything from it. This has to be the least memorable song I recall hearing, as even now I couldn't tell you a thing about it.

There aren't many actual tracks here (which is probably a blessing), making it kind of inappropriate calling so many of them "one of the worst", but that's how I'd have to describe them. The first and last are pretentious short pieces, trying to put off some grand epic atmosphere that ends up a joke (further worsened by the transparent title choice of Age of Elegance). The seven tracks crammed between them range from awful to relatively decent, and I've already named off the worst so let's focus on the few bright spots. True opener "Fawns" is okay, even if it is hampered by the horrible production job and nonsensical, artsy lyrics. I must admit that the slow verse has some charm and the vocals are pretty good. A couple of bad songs later, we hit "Moriah", one of those extremely sslllloooooowwww songs (if you see my point), except I actually like this one. I think it's aided by the dark atmosphere and the looming, if simple, chorus. Finally, there's the album's highlight, "Queen Ann", a good, hell, maybe even great song. Good vocals, a sense of coherency, and finally some actually decent songwriting grace this single flash of potential, the way the whole album should have worked out. Sadly, it didn't. Don't waste your time or money with this. Just stick with Crimson Glory.

(http://metallicfaithimmortal.blogspot.com/)

It takes something very special to make someone return from a 3 year hiatus from writing reviews and this is it: Lord Bane’s Age of Elegance.

Drawing influence from Crimson Glory and perhaps Metal Church and King Diamond, Lord Bane still has a sound that is entirely their own. And guess what: they are probably more talented than their influences and any other band of the 90s.

It’s apparent from the first song ‘Fawns’ that Lord Bane possesses a level of talent and professionalism that is rare for a new band. ‘Fawns’, with its complex structure, rhythms and menacing atmosphere is a staunch example of how progressive metal and an introducing track should be written. Its long, it’s technical, it’s intelligent and it’s emotionally vibrant, which is also a pretty darn good description of the album overall.
Other highlights are ‘Born to Die’ and ‘Promise Of Prophecy’, the two featuring some of the best and catchiest melodies on the album. Also take note of the first two minutes of ‘Queen Anne’ – very excellent and Crimson Glory-esque.

Guitarist and vocalist Shawn Ames is obviously the main talent and driving force behind the band. What a talent he is, delivering world-class guitar and vocal lines. Guitar and vocal melodies in ‘Queen Anne’ and ‘Promise of Prophecy’ are as intriguing and enthralling as I’ve ever heard. Will he meet the same fate as Midnight or will we hear from him again?

Ladies and gentlemen, this is a masterpiece that should please metal heads of every kind. Melodic, thrashy, heavy and catchy, there’s a little of everything in here. Do you like Tad Morose? Lord Bane could perhaps be described as their US counterpart.

That means this album is a must have. A true masterpiece – enjoy!

This is a barely known release that caught my attention after I heard some samples online years ago. As a big fan of US power metal it really struck me as good stuff that recalled one of my favorite groups, Crimson Glory.

“Age of Elegance” features lots of harmonized guitars, soaring vocals, and some simplistic keyboard accompaniment. This album is obviously focused primarily on creating a dark atmosphere and despondent mood with its extended instrumental sections, guitar harmonies, and sustained keyboard chords. The songs are pretty similar to one another, having some slightly progressive tendencies and extended arrangements. The lyrics seem to focus on love gone wrong and sadness in general.

The whole band seems to be quite capable musicians. The vocalist and main songwriter Shawn Ames is quite good and reminds me of a cross between Midnight (Crimson Glory, for his crooning and “emotional” wailing) and Jon Oliva (Savatage, for a certain vocal scratchiness). There is some good, surprisingly technical soloing on here while during the rhythm parts the guitarists tend to lay back and stay with the melody instead of showing off.

The song where I think it all comes together the best is “Queen Anne”. This is where their style really works: all the vocal parts are catchy, and all the instruments are working together to create an interesting musical journey throughout the course of the song.

I subtracted some points over a few issues. First of all, let me be clear that I don't believe any album is perfect. I believe there is always room for improvement for musicians to strive for. My rating reflects that belief. The songs could benefit from catchier/tighter/shorter arrangements. Most songs on here overstay their welcomes. But the album features some good musicians and is well-worth checking out for fans of melodic dark atmospheric metal and/or fans of Crimson Glory.

I’ve heard some talk on the net that Shawn Ames has another album/solo project available or one in the works. I haven’t been able to find any concrete information on this. Hopefully the metal scene will hear more from this talented musician in the future.