Welcome To The Other Side

Here comes the new Rage album, one of my favorite bands. This is the first album with the new line-up. Now taking care of the drums, the one that is amongst the best (if not THE best) drummers : Mike Terrana, aka "The Machine". The guitar, keyboards and other arrangements are now taken care by Victor Smolski, guitar virtuoso which classical music roots are greatly appreciated by me and I'm sure many fans. This new album also marks a new direction change, maybe a return to the source, the essence of Rage if you will. More agressive songs, no more Lingua Mortis Orchestra and a raw sound with only 3 members, like the old Rage ! Well, the first listens were inconclusive and I didn't like it that much in the beginning, but now I'm getting more and more addicted to it. The album is somewhere in between End Of All Days and Black In Mind with some elements reminding a lot of Mind Odyssey (Victor Smolski former band), quite normal since he wrote half the material of this album. The vocals of Peavy haven't changed, except for some moments when he successfully experienced some new stuff. Like for example the way he sings the verse in "Riders Of The Moonlight" (excellent song !!!) reminding me a lot a JPop/JRock band called Kuroyume. Musically, many new classical oriented arrangements and melodies due to M. Smolsky excellent songwriting skills. Only little glitch, Victor sometimes tends to add a tad too much "progressive" elements to the music of Rage, making it to sound a lot like some Mind Odyssey songs. But don't worry, it's no big deal, it's just a bit strange for old fans that's all. So new sound, new people, but the spirit of Rage seems indestructible, the ambience and the soul of Rage are intact, and for that I congratulate them... being able to radically change direction compared to the Ghost album and keeping the roots of Rage intact is really something. The drumming is amazing, very original and for once Mike have been given freedom to this area and you can feel it, he's not just hitting fast and precisely, but very technical, original stuff... it may takes some time for huge fans to adapt, but it really pleases me to hear and feel that everyone have contributed to this new sound that slowly but surely is conquering me again, like in the old days of Rage (Black In Mind, End Of All Days and XIII being my fav. albums... Trapped is also very cool). It's now 2 years that they are together since Peavy formers bandmates left the band just before the Ghost album was released, quickly reforming a band, they toured for the new album together, playing the old Rage songs and getting acquainted with the Rage sound and feel... and that's probably why this album sound quite mature. The ambiance is still Rage, with an album called Welcome To The Other Side. The artcover is cool and reminds of the Black In Mind album. Unfortunately the album have some weak moments and some really medium songs. But songs like "Paint The Devil On The Wall", "The Mirror In Your Eyes", "No Lies", "Point Of No Return", "Riders Of The Moonlight" or "Sister Demon" are really amazing !!! So this last Rage is very good, at least as good as the Ghost album and maybe better because we're getting back to the old time Rage that I love the most. It's full of new stuff and really requires the listener full's attention to really dive into this new sound for the band, but the spirit is alive and this announces a very promising future. I'm pretty sure long time fans will love it but I'm not sure people who only like the Lingua Mortis period will... I fear they will no longer recognize the band. Anyway, a great Heavy Metal release, mature and emotion packed... Rage on everyone !!!! Great job guys !