REBELLION - Sagas Of Iceland
Rebellion is a German power metal band formed by two former Grave Digger musicians who seem to be rather fond of ancient literature. Their debut album was about Shakespeare's Macbeth, and the new one outlines the ancient sagas of Iceland, a concept album about Viking heroes and their deeds. Even if the lyrics may be first class (dragon slayers, he he), the music is just very traditional true metal, a word Rebellion use themselves to describe their music. What can be said in favour of Rebellion is that their songs are well structured and you can't foresee how they develop. The only real weak track on the album is Sword In The Storm.
So far, so good! But the ingredients of the songs are a bit out of date and listening to the whole album is a kind of déjà vu experience. The album contains many guitar solos, a very dynamic and overwhelming rhythm section and of course lots of melodic choruses. There are some more balladesque elements, faster up-tempo parts accompanied by rough vocals, metal hymns and even some King Diamond sounding stuff. Rebellion seem to be proud to be stuck in the 80s. I suppose that the so-called true metal fans will adore the sagas of Iceland, but I generally prefer listening to more contemporary metal.