Various - The Keepers Of Jericho, Part II


Year of Release: 2002
Label: Arise Metal
Catalog Number: Arise 040
Format: CD
Total Time: 57:24:00

Similar To: Hmm, have a guess! ;)

Did I put my hand up to review all of the tributes, best-of's, and compilations CDs of late? The Keepers Of Jericho, Part II, eh? Helloween Tribute? Helloween who?

Ok, enough of the fun. The first Helloween Tribute from Arise Records was released in Y2K and featured some HUGE names in power metal from Rhapsody and Sonata Arctica to Secret Sphere and Metalium. This second tribute album, through design or circumstance, also features a bunch of power metal bands but this time around they may be less well known to the power metal fan. To the list: Iron Savior, Steel Attack, Powergod, Celesty, Beto Vasquez Infinity (ok, this one isn't power metal), Paragon, Arwen, Freternia, Vhaldemar, Dragonland, Axenstar, Highlord, and Red Wine.

For the informed ones out there, you'll notice that a few of these bands are in fact rostered to the Arise Metal record label, meaning Keepers II could be seen as a blatant marketing tool for their own artists. But for those who don't care about such things, the covers on here generally follow the Pumpkin's principal pulsating tunes with only the odd track following a different path than the originals - namely Beto Vasquez' Infinity covering "A Tale That Wasn't Right." Special mention to Dragonland (from Sweden), Highlord (from Italy), and Arwen (from Spain) for their covers of "Sole Survivor," "Power," and "March Of Time," respectively. Whether it's the songs themselves or the way they play them, there's something about those songs in particular that really makes them special. Particular mention also to Finnish power metal band Celesty whose vocalist, Kimmo Peramaki, literally copies Michael Kiske on the song "The Chance." Vhaldemar bring a rougher vocal element to a great song in "Gorgar," whilst the cover with the most fun would be Red Wine's version of "Rise And Fall."

Band-wise, this album is not as big as the first tribute but The Keepers Of Jericho, Part II should not be overlooked based on that. This is a solid and entertaining, yet ultimately unnecessary, album that covers more than just the Keeper I and II era.

[This review originally appeared December 2002 at the ProgPower Online review site -ed.]


Tracklisting:
Phantoms Of Death (Iron Savior) (6:35) / Dr. Stein (Steel Attack) (5:19) / Starlight (Powergod) (3:41) / A Tale That Wasn't Right (Infinity) (3:34) / March Of Time (Arwen) (5:13) / Power (Highlord) (4:04) / Murderer (Freternia) (5:24) / Metal Invaders (Paragon) (4:32) / Gorgar (Vhaldemar) (4:11) / The Chance (Celesty) (4:12) / Sole Survivor (Dragonland) (4:22) / Twilight Of The Gods (Axenstar) (3:28) / Rise And Fall (Red Wine) (4:19)

Musicians:


Discography:


Genre: Various Genres

Origin VA

Added: March 29th 2005
Reviewer: Gary Carson
Score:
Artist website:
Hits: 2338
Language: english

  

[ Back to Reviews Index | Post Comment ]