MELIAH RAGE "Warrior" CD details and new songs posted

[Jowita]

We will have 3 new releases at the Keep It True festival: MELIAH RAGE "Warrior", OUTRAGE "We the Dead", MORTALICUM "Tears from the Grave" and VV.AA. "Compendium of Metal Vol. 7", so if you're there, you can buy the new stuff directly from our stand there.
Here's the info about the first one:

The 8th full-length of the US power/thrash veterans from Boston MELIAH RAGE was supposed to be out last year, but apart from finding a new vocalist, the band didn't have much luck, in particular due to health problems of the guitarist Anthony Nichols (who underwent 2 surgeries for herniated disc last June, and in December suffered severe wrist injury requiring multiple plates and screws). It will still take months before they can play live again, as besides the broken bones, Anthony's tendons and nerves will need recovery time, but at least their new CD "Warrior" is finished and will be released on April 25th. The new album is more in-your-face and aggressive than their last one, mostly thanks to the new singer, whose vocals, while being pretty versatile, are less melodic, but the band's trademark intricate dual guitar harmonies and melodic interludes are still there of course. They have delivered a solid, hook-filled album, and show they can still pack a punch.

Here is a short promo clip for "Warrior" album (featuring a fragment of a song "When We Wake"):



And here's a lyric video for "I Am the Pain" that the band's vocalist, Marc Lopes created:



The album's title track "Warrior" is available for streaming on YouTube here, and the aforementioned songs plus "Stranger to Your Sympathy" can be streamed from our Bandcamp page (from where the album is available for digital download pre-order).

You can find more info about "Warrior" on the page of this release.

You can pre-order the CD from our SHOP page, with 2 Euro discount. All pre-orders will be shipped first, right after the KIT festival, that is on April 28th.



(Cover art design by Martin Bouchard "Fitto", painted by Alec Dowie)

[Hugin]

I'm right about to review the album at the moment, and I'm a bit confused, that nobody in here seems to talk about it. I really love the album, and the way it does NOT sound retro in terms of power/thrash metal. It sounds quite "90s like", but in a very positive way. At times, I'm really fed up with all 80s-thrash-worship that goes on these days, and here I hear some high quality hooks, a cool and destinctive voice, and some hints at Xentrix, late Belladonna-era Anthrax and maybe also Wargasm. All in all: Really good stuff!

[Jowita]

I'm right about to review the album at the moment, and I'm a bit confused, that nobody in here seems to talk about it. I really love the album, and the way it does NOT sound retro in terms of power/thrash metal. It sounds quite "90s like", but in a very positive way. At times, I'm really fed up with all 80s-thrash-worship that goes on these days, and here I hear some high quality hooks, a cool and destinctive voice, and some hints at Xentrix, late Belladonna-era Anthrax and maybe also Wargasm. All in all: Really good stuff!

Hi Rüdiger,

That is great to hear! Yes, it's not really old school (for us "old school" means sounding like from the '80s, not '90s) but a solid and enjoyable album nevertheless (Simone definitely prefers it to their previous one, as it was more melodic/less aggressive).
So... thank you very much for your awesome review for Powermetal.de, and sorry for responding so late (I haven't had the best internet connection lately, so I wasn't online much)!
Anyway now I have finally made an attempt to translate your review... Could you please take a look and let me know if it's correct? Actually I only wasn't sure about how to translate this (not sure how to translate "häkelnde" and if you meant to write that the songs miss hooklines, and what you meant by "die sich gewaschen hat"):
"Nein, das Beste an "Warrior" ist das richtig fies häkelnde Songwriting, das so ziemlich jedem Song eine Hookline verpasst, die sich gewaschen hat und vom neuen Shouter Marc Lopes herrlich bissig und ein wenig schräg eingequäkt wird (...)"
and this (does this text in the bracket refer to how the song actually sounds or that it could have been a highlight on "Death Magnetic" even if it sounded like this... and I couldn't find a clear translation of "nölig"):
"Auch das eingängige, für MELIAH-RAGE-Verhältnisse beinahe balladeske 'These Scars' geht ganz tief unter die Haut und wäre (mit deutlich nöligerem Gesang, zahnloserer Instrumentalfraktion und angezogener Handbremse) bestimmt ein Highlight auf dem magnetischen Tod deutlich berühmterer Landsleute gewesen."

Ah, there's also one factual mistake: it's their 8th studio album, not 7th. ;)

OK, here's my translation (I want to send it to the band because Google or other web translator can only confuse them):

The Boston power-thrashers MELIAH RAGE signed in 2011 a contract with their new Italian label, released with them the strong album "Dead To The World", which they subsequently wanted to present live during their appearance at Headbangers Open Air festival, but then singer Paul Souza suddenly stepped down, later on guitarist Anthony Nichols became ill and it took quite a while until the band could tackle the recording again. But now the waiting time for the fans is over, because with Marc Lopes a new front man grabbed the mic and with "Warrior" the eighth regular studio album is finally completed, and it rocks the house like there's no tomorrow. Honestly, I had quite expected a solid record, but that the album with the great cliche artwork would bring me so much joy surely was a surprise.

So what is the appeal of this warrior? Well, quite simply, the band doesn't jump through hoops, they don't swim with the tides of time backwards into the eighties, as it is currently so very popular in the thrash underground. But they do not make the mistake of shrewd mainstream of their genre where everything is delivered with excessive compression and loudness, and sterile production. Instead, "Warrior" sounds like a child of the '90s, and a steel child of the '90s at that. Because no matter how badly this metallic decade is depicted sometimes, especially Thrash Metal has many gems brought forth during this period, that although not being up to the major standards of the genre, had nevertheless a very particular class and a charm of their own. So I can think of as references, of course, next to the own early work of the Boston steel forge, especially of XENTRIX, late Belladonna era ANTHRAX or WARGASM; yes, maybe even POWERMAD.

Yet it's not only those not particularly common stylistic references that will raise a few eyebrows. No, the best thing about "Warrior" is the really mean crocheting songwriting where pretty much every song misses a hook that has washed itself and is cried out in a delightfully biting and a bit weird way by the new vocalist Marc Lopes, even though he is capable of high screams that a certain Ripper Owens would be proud of. These you can hear in the great 'When We Wake' quite excellently, and when Mr. Nichols fires a fantastic solo around the corner in 'A Dying Day', which results in a wonderfully melodic guitar leads, you can see me beaming with joy and even going crazy a little bit! Even the catchy, for MELIAH-RAGE standards almost balladesque 'These Scars' goes deep under your skin and would have certainly been (with noticeably anaemic singing, toothless instrumentation and the handbrake on) a highlight on "Death Magnetic" of the significantly more famous compatriots.

Yes, this is what I enjoy most in U.S. Power / Thrash: "Warrior" is riff oriented, has songs with a full groove that nevertheless don't refrain at any time from melodic lead guitars and harmonious moments, and moreover almost every piece comes with a chorus which drills directly into your brain and is great for singing along, without becoming flat. For me, it is perhaps once more also the surprising effect that makes a real hit from this all around immensely powerful album, so for the time being, I would lead "Warrior" as one of the very hot candidates for the top places of the next annual best-of lists.

[Hugin]

Hi Jowita,

thanks for your reply. To clarify the unclear parts of my review, I think in English we could put it like that:

"Nein, das Beste an "Warrior" ist das richtig fies häkelnde Songwriting, das so ziemlich jedem Song eine Hookline verpasst, die sich gewaschen hat und vom neuen Shouter Marc Lopes herrlich bissig und ein wenig schräg eingequäkt wird (...)"

"verpassen" in this context means "to add something (in this case hooks) to the song" - "die sich gewaschen hat" means "a hookline that is one of a kind" or "a really good, impressive hookline". "Verpassen" has a double meaning in German, so this might seem contradictive. You have taken the translation "etwas verpassen" = "to miss something" ("Ich verpasse den Bus" = "I miss the bus"). The verb I had used has however been "jemandem etwas verpassen" = "to add or to give something to somebody" ("der Friseur verpasst ihm einen neuen Haarschnitt" = "the barber gives him a new haircut").

So all in all, I would translate the sentence like that:

"No, actually the best thing about "Warrior" is the viciously memorable songwriting, giving each song one hookline of a kind, which has been screeched wonderfully aggressive and biting, albeit slightly weird, by the new shouter Marc Lopes."

and this (does this text in the bracket refer to how the song actually sounds or that it could have been a highlight on "Death Magnetic" even if it sounded like this... and I couldn't find a clear translation of "nölig"):
"Auch das eingängige, für MELIAH-RAGE-Verhältnisse beinahe balladeske 'These Scars' geht ganz tief unter die Haut und wäre (mit deutlich nöligerem Gesang, zahnloserer Instrumentalfraktion und angezogener Handbremse) bestimmt ein Highlight auf dem magnetischen Tod deutlich berühmterer Landsleute gewesen."

The text in brackets refers to the assumption that the song would probably have been a highlight on "Death Magnetic", if only Meliah Rage had managed to use tedious vocals, toothless instrumental parts and overall only with half steam... So maybe you could use this equivalent translation for the band:


Even the memorable 'These Scars', which could almost be considered a ballad in the Meliah Rage context, is creeping under your skin and would probably be a highlight on their significantly more famous compatriots' work "Death Magnetic", if only MELIAH RAGE had managed to record their tune with more tedious vocals, toothless instrumental parts and overall just go half steam ahead [like Metallica did].


To put it short: If the song had been weaker, it would be a highlight on "D.M.". The way it has turned out to be, it is actually too good for DM...


Apart from those two points, the translation get's the point to the reader, so it's okay for me like that. It can be understood what has been meant. However, if you should need a proper translation for publishing in any English-language media, then please let me know. Then I can make a translation that sounds not so much like "German translated to English".

Ah, there's also one factual mistake: it's their 8th studio album, not 7th. ;)

That has been corrected meanwhile... sorry, seems to be a simple counting mistake.

[Jowita]

Thank you so much!
Yes, now it all makes sense (and stylistically also sounds much better ).