Apocalypse - Rewind

Year of Release: 1998
Label:
Catalog Number: 08888
Format: CD
Total Time: 00:00:00

There?s a bit of history between this band and me ... this is 1 of 2 bands that I hunted down for about 8-10 months before finally hooking up with the guitarist of the band, and that was mere coincidence. Their first disc, self titled, was very difficult to find a couple of years ago, and I had heard 2 clips from it and thought it was a bit retro in writing style, but had a 90's sound to it that made it worthwhile. Someone in Germany gave me the guitarist?s address and he sent a disc to me. It was at that time that I urged him to get the band online, and into the mainstream, but to this day not much is heard from this band. Seems like they were pretty hot in the Michigan area for some time, even getting some radio play and won some ?battle of the band? awards. It appears that the band all have day jobs and do their music whenever they can, and their material is derived from older material they they?ve never gotten a chance to record, and when they can, they put it down on disc, which gives the band their retro sound. Their new release, called Rewind, is indicative of the direction they?ve taken this time out, opting to stick with a retro sound, maybe even go back further as it sounds like they?ve pulled some real old material from the vaults to make this one. It doesn?t even sound as modern as their first release, and I wonder if the band is content just to record every 5 years and put down what they?ve worked on during that time, and just release it. They?ve been at it I understand for the good part of 12 years, and I am assuming that this is the case. This is what I?m hearing on the new disc:

THE STYLE

I imagine that the band wants to be put at least in a metal category, and a melodic one at that, however, this disc is about as heavy as a hard rock disc, never venturing into the land of heaviness. Most of the music is laid back, mellow, and definitely lightweight. I can?t compare any metal bands to them because of this, but take a hair metal band from the 80?s, and tone it down to some basic strumming on the electrics, and make it sound ?unplugged? most of the way and you have this band. A few times, some of the intros scream metal, and just when you think they?re ready to kick in, they fool you and go back to the rock sound. I guess you could say that the band is a bit progressive, in that their song structures aren?t straight ahead all of the time, but it?s more prog injected rather than prog driven.

THE BAND:

Guitarist, bass, drums, singer. Very basic lineup, and they pretty much rely on that complement to complete the disc, opting not to overdub too much and the disc takes on an empty feel at times. The guitarist is the main songwriter, and about the only musician that stands out is the singer, who has an interesting tone to his voice, almost like a Geoff Tate, but with a bit of a twist in the tone. It?s hard to make any judgements on the players because of the simplicity of the roles they play in the band. There aren?t many songs that take too much to play, and the songs aren?t structured to showcase any one or two players, it?s really a basic approach to music. Guitar intros, song kicks in, goes to mellow, singer sings, chorus, basic solos, and then song ends.

THE VOCALS:

Probably the most interesting aspect of the disc is the singer. While he has a very good and interesting voice, he sounds a bit out of place because it sounds like he is trying to sing strongly, but the music is too laid back to match the vocal lines and it sounds out of place a lot of the time. It?s almost as if he is trying to give the whole sound a boost with his voice, and it becomes apparent after a few songs. This guy needs to let loose, and the music won?t allow it.

THE PRODUCTION:

Excellent recording. Everything is clean, crisp and easy to hear. There isn?t much in the recording, but what is there is quite pleasing in that area. The vocals again stand out, and you can hear every word that he is singing provided he pronounces the words clearly. The guitars are pretty much recorded alone, without much overdubbing, except on the solos, giving this disc an empty feel to it. The drums are clear, the bass is clear, and I'm sure that the limited amount of tracks they used is responsible for this.

THE COMMENTS

I had been hoping that the band would have broken out somehow and laid down some serious 90?s metal this time around. Instead, the band opted for a hard rock sound with some pretty boring songs. The singer alone is not enough to carry this one through, and I am afraid that this disc won?t get any more time in the player. If the hard rock sound doesn?t get to you, the odd vocal lines will. If that doesn?t get to you, then the boring songs will. I hate to say it, but this is one is a dud. I cannot recommend this disc to anyone interested in some good metal. I?m not sure what lies ahead for this obscure band, but they can?t be sustaining themselves for all these years playing music like this. The talent is there, but they do need more songwriting direction, and a killer disc next time out to get my attention.

Tracklisting:
[not provided]

Musicians:
[not provided]

Discography:
Apocalypse Rewind (1998)

Genre: Other

Origin US

Added: July 25th 1999
Reviewer: Larry "LarryD" Daglieri

Hits: 2708
Language: english