┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │■ ■│ │ .-/ .-. │ │ _.-~ / ___ | ~-._ │ │ \:/ -~| / __/| .\:/ │ │ / || (:/:| \ │ │ / /\/| |:\___\| |\ \ │ │ / /:::|.::/:::/:.|:\ \ │ │ / /:::/ \\/:::/::/:::\ \ │ │ / .::\ \-~~~~-/\/:.. \ │ │ /..:::::\ /:::::..\ │ │ /::::::::- -::::::::\ │ │ \:::::-~ ~-:::::/ │ │ \:-~ ~-:/ │ │ METAL CLASSICS ARCHIVE │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ P R E S E N T S │ │ │ │ │ │ + Holter - Vlad The Impaler-(KICP-1947) + │ │ │ │ │ │╔═════════════════════╗ │ │║ Release Information ║ │ │╠═════════════════════╩══════════════════════════════════════════╗ │ │║ ║ │ │║ Release Date.Dec-23-2018 Encoder......L3.98.4 -V0 --lowpas ║ │ │║ Genre........Metal Graber.......EAC ║ │ │║ Year.........2018 Khz/Bitrate..44,1/ Br ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ Ripper.......anthem Songs........11 ║ │ │║ Covers.......Yes Url... n/a ║ │ │║ ║ │ │╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │╔═════════════════════╗ │ │║ Release Notes ║ │ │╠═════════════════════╩══════════════════════════════════════════╗ │ │║ ║ │ │║ Artist : Holter Rating : You Decide! ║ │ │║ Album : Vlad The Impaler-(KICP-1947) Label : King ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ ║ │ │╠════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣ │ │║ ║ │ │║ Description : ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ In January of 2015, I encountered one of the ║ │ │║ biggest surprises of my music listening life. ║ │ │║ Jorn Lande and Trond Holter put out a concept ║ │ │║ album telling the story of Bram Stoker's ║ │ │║ "Dracula", which was complete with cheesy sound ║ │ │║ effects and a sense of camp that rivaled the ║ │ │║ 1960's Batman television show. It was the kind ║ │ │║ of absurdity I should have laughed at and ║ │ │║ discarded. Instead, the sheer sense of fun of ║ │ │║ the album transcended past the typical ║ │ │║ boundaries of heavy metal, and left that record ║ │ │║ not only as the far and away best record of the ║ │ │║ year, but one that remains one of my favorite ║ │ │║ records of the last five years.... period. ║ │ │║ Needless to say, this is a record that has a lot ║ │ │║ to live up to. ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ First and foremost, we need to note the big ║ │ │║ change this time out. Jorn has been replaced ║ │ │║ with Nils K Rue of Pagan's Mind fame. Nils is a ║ │ │║ fine singer in his own right, but I will admit ║ │ │║ to some disappointment in his inclusion here. ║ │ │║ Not only is Jorn a singular talent, but Nils ║ │ │║ simply doesn't have the menace to his voice to ║ │ │║ make me believe he is a blood-thirsty murderer ║ │ │║ leaving a heap of bodies on pikes outside his ║ │ │║ castle walls. ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ But we heard from "Worlds On Fire" and "I'll Die ║ │ │║ For You" that Holter didn't need Jorn around to ║ │ │║ come up with material that hit the right marks, ║ │ │║ with an infectious hookiness that knows playing ║ │ │║ things absolutely straight would be a huge ║ │ │║ mistake. Everyone involved knows that there is a ║ │ │║ spirit of fun to this project that maybe ║ │ │║ shouldn't be in a record telling the story of ║ │ │║ one of the most cruel men to ever walk the face ║ │ │║ of the earth, but it's precisely because of that ║ │ │║ the whole thing works as well as it does. ║ │ │║ Nothing about bloody death says there should be ║ │ │║ a guitar solo epic enough to recreate Slash's ║ │ │║ parts in the "November Rain" video, but we get a ║ │ │║ couple of them anyway, because why the hell not? ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ The biggest difference between the two records ║ │ │║ is that this one is more of a straight-forward ║ │ │║ metal record, whereas "Dracula" had more ║ │ │║ theatrical and narrative moments to make the ║ │ │║ experience unique. That is a double-edged sword. ║ │ │║ To me, that robs this of a few bits of ║ │ │║ inspiration I was looking forward to, but I know ║ │ │║ a lot of people thought the first record went ║ │ │║ too far down that rabbit hole, so this ║ │ │║ refocusing will make this a more palatable ║ │ │║ outing. Not everyone grew up with Meat Loaf as ║ │ │║ their first musical love, the way I did. ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ When Holter gets it right, he gets it totally ║ │ │║ right. Songs like "I'll Die For You" and "The ║ │ │║ Last Generation" are heavy metal with a ║ │ │║ theatrical flair to their massive hooks. The ║ │ │║ latter, sung by Eva Iselin Erichsen, feels ║ │ │║ entirely like a song that Dracula and Mina could ║ │ │║ have dueted on the last record. Her inclusion is ║ │ │║ one of the highlights of the album, as were her ║ │ │║ female predecessor's the last time 'round. ║ │ │║ Seriously, the Broadway prayer "Shadows Of Love" ║ │ │║ wouldn't be as effective with Nils behind the ║ │ │║ mic. ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ "Without You" is this record's take on "Hands Of ║ │ │║ Your God", while "Under Your Skin" is akin to ║ │ │║ "Queen Of The Damned", both records feature ║ │ │║ penultimate instrumentals, and there's even a ║ │ │║ direct sequel in "Save Me Part II". So yes, it ║ │ │║ does feel a little bit like Holter is trying ║ │ │║ very hard to replicate the formula that made the ║ │ │║ first record special. Lightning can't be ║ │ │║ captured in a bottle, however, so those little ║ │ │║ callbacks not only tie the albums together, but ║ │ │║ invite comparisons that don't need to be there. ║ │ │║ "Vlad The Impaler" is a terrific album in the ║ │ │║ style of "Dracula", good enough that it doesn't ║ │ │║ need to hit us over the head with the ║ │ │║ connection. ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ But minor gripes aside, Holter has taken vampire ║ │ │║ lore for another winning spin. No, it isn't as ║ │ │║ much a revelation as "Dracula" was, but it was ║ │ │║ never going to be. That album was a moment of ║ │ │║ inspiration that caught everyone off-guard, and ║ │ │║ it was the surprise factor that turned it from a ║ │ │║ great record into a defining one. This record ║ │ │║ had expectations coming in, and even though it ║ │ │║ nearly meets all of them, it was never going to ║ │ │║ knock me over, since I was already braced. ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ Let's not let that spoil a good thing. If you ║ │ │║ loved "Dracula", you'll feel the same way about ║ │ │║ "Vlad The Impaler". There's a lot of cheesy ║ │ │║ metal, a lot of conceptual metal, and a lot of ║ │ │║ dramatic metal. Holter wraps it all up in one ║ │ │║ package that is ruthlessly effective. Sort of ║ │ │║ like a certain historical figure. ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ Review written by Chris C for www.bloody-good- ║ │ │║ music.blogspot.com ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ Nils K. Rue - Vocals ║ │ │║ Trond Holter - Guitars ║ │ │║ Eva Iselin Erichsen - Vocals ║ │ │║ Per Morten Bergseth - Drums ║ │ │║ Erling Henanger - Keyboards ║ │ │║ Bernt Jansen - Bass ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ ║ │ │╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │╔═════════════════════╗ │ │║ Release Tracklist ║ │ │╚═════════════════════╩══════════════════════════════════════════ │ │ │ │ 01 - he World┤s On Fire [04:12] │ │ 02 - Awakened [05:03] │ │ 03 - Drums Of Doom [05:14] │ │ 04 - The Last Generation [04:45] │ │ 05 - I┤ll Die For You [03:15] │ │ 06 - Shadows Of Love [04:51] │ │ 07 - Without Of You [02:35] │ │ 08 - Under My Skin [03:38] │ │ 09 - Vlad The Impaler [04:31] │ │ 10 - Save Me - Part II [06:41] │ │ 11 - Shadows Of Love (Acoustic Version) (Bonus [04:38] │ │ │ │ Total Length : [49:23 minn │ │ │ │ │ │ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ╔═════════════════════╗ │ │ ║ Greetings To: ║ │ │ ╚═════════════════════╝ │ │ │ │ Too all people who contributes to make this │ │ archive of good music in a exceptional conditions │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │■ ■│ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘