Wings of Rage

"Wings of Rage" is Rage's 24th album overall and the third and final album with guitarist Marco Rodriguez, who ended up leaving the band shortly after the album's release. While things looked promising with the release of lead single "Let Them Rest In Peace", "Wings of Rage" is a mess of a record plagued with poor production, uninspired songwriting and messy performances by the three musicians.

"Wings of Rage" starts off with "True", which accurately sets the tone for most the album. A very banal riff followed with a very weird sound coming out of Peavy's mouth kick off this one, and straight away you can hear how out of sync the band is which will not get better as the album goes on. Props to Rodriguez for the solo though, it's a great display of how good his playing can be when he wants. It's just a shame he doesn't seem to be showing it on his out-of-time rhythm playing. The chorus features vocals and harmonies that are so out of tune with each other that you can only cringe when you hear them, which is a shame because the song feature strong melodies throughout even though it's ruined by its terrible main riff and bridge. Again, this is an issue that will follow in every single song on "Wings of Rage". Case in point, the vocals in the verses of "Let Them Rest In Peace" are such a mess that it's actually difficult to discern the intended melody Peavy is trying to perform, ruining one of the better songs on the album.

"Tomorrow" however is one of the highlights of the album. It starts with vocals only, with it's great chorus melody followed by a darker riff by Rodriguez and evolving into a thrashier song than it would seem at first. Of course, the song is still cursed with bad playing: perhaps it was a bad idea to leave the band to produce and mix the album themselves, as Peavy is credited as executive producer and Rodriguez mixed & mastered the whole thing by himself. For the third album in a row, hiring an outside producer to coach the band into playing better on the album would have given songs with great potential a much-needed kick in the ass. Instead, we are left with an album that sounds like a demo or a work-in-progress, both in performance and tone-wise. Another high point of the album starts off with the interlude "Shadow Over Deadland (The Twilight Transition)" that builds into the heavy and moody "A Nameless Grave". Featuring great orchestrations and heavy 7-string guitars (which is a first with Rage as far as I know), this could have ended up pretty high in my list of favorite Rage songs had it been produced properly.

The worst offender of "Wings of Rage" has to be the tragic "Shine a Light". It could have been such a beautiful song and one of the best on this offering but it just falls completely on its face because of the terrible performance by the band, especially the lead and backing vocals that are so out of tune with each other. However the album ends on a somewhat high note with heavy closer "For Those Who Wish to Die". Well, as high as it can considering the issues plaguing the entire album. Being one of the faster and heavier songs on the album, it is still very melodic and catchy and to me features the tightest performance by the band this album.

What a mess "Wings of Rage" has been. There's an EP's worth of great songs, but the rest of the album is lacking in the songwriting department and let's be honest, the band sounds terrible on this one. It's such a shame because this lineup seems to have a lot of chemistry onstage as seen in the live videos you can find online, which has never been captured properly on record.

Highlights:
- Let Them Rest in Peace
- Tomorrow
- A Nameless Grave
- For Those Who Wish to Die

Least favorite
- True
- Chasing the Twilight Zone
- Don't Let Me Down
- Blame It on the Truth

As a bit of a horror connoisseur myself, I can appreciate that some of the themes on Wings of Rage tip in that direction. The Stan Decker cover art is pretty awesome, maybe my favorite they'd used in a very long time, and I was fairly excited to the degree I was when Grave Digger had their album The Grave Digger based on the writings of Edgar Allen Poe. You'd expect the theming from more extreme metal genres like thrash, death and black metal, but the 80s were so heavily saturated with heavy metal bands covering the subject, and it stirs up such nostalgia, that I love it when more modern evolutions of that style revisit it. I've got my shelves stocked with CDs by Wolf, Powerwolf, THEM, and I'm happy to have Rage added to that crew...not that it's the band's first flirtation with that theme, but probably the most thorough.

Unfortunately, Wings of Rage just doesn't start off on the best footing, as the sort of silly narrative growling Peavy delivers throughout the opener "True" is a little awkward. The chorus does make up for that a little, with a good melody in it, but even that seems derivative of other tracks they've delivered in the past. There's a good lead in there, but the riffs aren't the most inspiring I've heard from Marco. This does improve elsewhere, with some more creativity on tunes like "Let Them Rest in Peace" or the slower, crawling "Wings of Rage" which has almost like a Wagnerian (haw haw) vibe to it from how the synths are placed behind the guitars. Overall, though, I found this was probably my least favorite in terms of guitars, of the three albums during the Marco Rodriguez 'tenure', because spoiler, this is to be his last studio album in the band. There's a solid EP's worth of material here to mark his passing, but I'd sooner turn a new listener towards Seasons of the Black or The Devil Strikes Again to check out his playing.

The production in general here isn't my favorite, in fact; it's all punchy and modern and sufficiently supports the slightly more theatrical feel to the songs with the keys and such, but in particular I just didn't love the vocals. He's flexing the same range as he has in the last 20 years, perhaps even scaling up just a bit higher on average, but there's just something in there that seems to lose the edge, or maybe 'bite' in this case, that he had on his lower range on other recent albums. He also seems like he's just on the brink of shifting off the intended key on a few lines. Maybe this was intentional but it just isn't his best, and that awkwardness becomes even more pronounced on the ballad "Shine a Light", which is a mediocre track to begin with, but throw his underwhelming performance on there and it's rubbish. I'm not a fan that ever needed Rage to write these sorts of tunes to begin with, it might have worked on Ghosts a few times, but that's fairly anomalous in their catalogue. The re-recording of "Higher than the Sky", titled "HTTS 2.0" on this album, is rather a dud as well. This album was mixed by the band itself, specifically Marco, and maybe that's part of the issue, but it's clear to me that the album looks better than it sounds, and other than a few tracks it's not one I've felt like spinning much since it dropped.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

Sometimes I like it when I'm wrong. I had previously semi-given up on one of Germany's (and indeed the world's) most veteran speed metal acts. Rage are one of the most consistently overlooked bands in the entire genre when you consider their popularity in proportion to the quantity of their output. Having released an album every year or two since 1986, making this their 24th full-length (!), I had grown bored of their stale formula and was especially disappointed in the last two efforts (The Devil Strikes Back and Seasons Of The Black respectively). I made it very clear that this was down to the absence of guitar-maestro and riff-master Victor Smolski, whose albums with Rage are for sure my favourites. He has since departed to form his own symphonic power metal project, Almanac, whose material I have greatly favoured. However, Almanac appear to have changed their approach this year and, for once, in the eternal battle of Peavy vs Smolski, I might just put my money on Wings Of Rage instead of the upcoming Rush Of Death.

Upon first listen, what hit me immediately about W.O.R. was the riff count. Not just the quantity, but the quality. This album is loaded with riffs that hit immediately, with impact and creativity. There are groovers ("Let Them Rest In Peace"), menacing crawlers ("A Nameless Grave"), thrashers ("True"), and of course speed metal classics (the title-track). I quite enjoyed some of the down 'n' dirty riffing on the previous two LPs, but Peavy has gone all riff-happy here in 2020 and it gives the album replay value like nothing else. Obviously, there are most positive aspects to this record than just riffs, and Peavy himself is one of them. He seems to have embraced his age (an impressive 55!) and now his vocal delivery is one of confidence, full of character and not afraid to make some creative decisions. I especially love his ultra-gruff moments, like the end of the second track: 'Let them rest in...PEEAAA-AUGH!' - followed by a ball-crushing riff and another 'OUGH!' for good measure. Metal. As. Fuck.

Beyond the lead work, drummer Vassilios Maniatopoulos does a sterling job of keeping the momentum driving forward with precision and control, and the bass rumbles in a satisfyingly metallic way underneath the maelstrom. The production quality is seriously tight, especially the mixing on the drums which are super snappy. Overall, the sound is one of crispness and grit - no better exemplified than on the fantastic re-recording of "Higher Than The Sky". This End Of All Days classic now sounds more aggressive, tighter and loaded with attitude. I love the positioning of the interlude, "Shadow Over Deadlands (The Twilight Transition)", which acts as a brief respite before the more progressively-tinged centre of the album drags you into its murky depths. This part of the LP, with the brooding "Don't Let Me Down" and the balladic "Shine A Light", will require more attention and repeats to fully enjoy, but only point out the strengths in the other segments of the record.

Overall, Wings Of Rage might be a track or two too long. Cutting the middle-of-the-road finale "For Those Who Wish To Die" would work better, leaving the album to properly climax on the furious riff that closes "Blame It On The Truth". But, truth be told, the quality of the Germans never dips below an acceptable standard on this LP, and even the lacklustre tracks are enjoyable to fans of the band if no one else. Among the soaring choruses, gritty riffs and blazing solos is the true heart of Rage finally trying to shine once more. Wings Of Rage is a considerable step up from what's been offered in recent years, and I'm finally excited about the power trio again. Just one final note: the artwork is awesome, and I'm really glad a band has finally referenced The Twilight Zone in a song - theme tune and all!