The return of Metal Allegiance, featuring some of Metal’s finest, including Mike Portnoy (Sons of Apollo, ex Dream Theatre), Alex Skolnick (Testament, The Alex Skolnick Trio), David Ellefson (Megadeth) and Mark Menghi, is always something to celebrate. Reuniting for the bands sophomore album entitled ‘Volume II – Power Drunk Majesty’, set for release September 7th, Metal Allegiance deliver a new batch of songs with a host of guest artists that aims to delight and surprise. If guaranteed to give some fans everything they wanted, and maybe even answer some Heavy Metal prayers too, ‘Volume II – Power Drunk Majesty,’lets itself down in places, delivering a mixed batch of highs and lows.
Straight out of the gates “The Accuser” features Trevor Strnad (The Black Dahlia Murder) whose vocal delivery makes for the most exciting part of an otherwise standard Metal track. Reaching into the Thrash realm, Strnad echoes closer to Slayer’s Tom Araya than he does Black Dahlia Murder, to impressive results. A courageous move resulting in proof that the vocalist is not only dynamic, but that he took the opportunity to experiment. Followed immediately by the irresistibly good rhythm guitar riff of “Bound By Silence” featuring the legendary former voice of Anthrax, John Bush. Irresistibly good, until that niggling feeling in the back of your head forces you to dig that bit deeper, only to find that the addictive main riff creeps dangerously close to imitating Slipknot’s “Pulse of the Maggots”. All of which adds up to an interesting but concerning start that, if not necessarily a deal breaker, may still have some fans leaning on the side of caution.
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‘Vol II – Power Drunk Majesty’ may ambitiously be, as Portnoy put it, be “a nice first step towards world peace,” at least in Metal terms. The record marks the first in over twenty years to feature both Andreas Kisser (Sepultura) and Max Cavalera (Soulfly, ex Sepultura). Kisser ‘s signature style features frequently throughout the majority of the record, and Cavalera’s contributions to “Voodoo of the Godsend” go a long way toward elevating it to one of the albums standout moments. Its tribal nucleus, coupled with a heavily melodic forefront, blend to perfection, leaving no room needed for improvement.
Musically the core four shine with Accept’s Mark Tornillio leading the calvary through “Terminal Illusion” with his soaring vocals. Layering instrumentation on top of Portnoy’s simple rhythmic intro, the already hooking riffs snowball as Skolnick’s ruthless tone dominates the track, helping “Terminal Illusion” meet the standout criteria.
Arguably the weakest moment on the album, “Liars And Thieves” featuring Troy Sanders of Mastodon tackles corporate greed embedded in the “American Way” in what is ultimately a rather uninteresting way. With lyrics and riffs that could be cherry picked from countless tracks across the genre dealing in the same themes, it is hard not to find yourself expecting more here from this all star ensemble. Similarly, “Impulse Control” featuring Mark Osegueda, lyrically is the weakest track on the record. With painful rhyming choices and done to death subject matter, there are far more interesting ways to combat politics. Neither of these are examples of them.
The album concludes with the title track divided into a two part duet. Bringing back Osegueda for the first half,’Vol II – Power Drunk Majesty’ closes out on a stronger note with its first and only female guest, Floor Jansen of Nightwish. Jansen’s delivery is, as expected, simply stellar. Weaving her multi-dimensional vocals throughout the track, she takes it to a whole other level, bringing the record to an anthemic and satisfying end.
‘Vol II – Power Drunk Majesty’ both exceeds and disappoints expectations. While in some cases the songs live up to the calibre we’ve come to expect of these musicians, in others they simply fail to meet the benchmarks they themselves have set. With an iconic core four, and guest slots being filled with musical legends, a high standard is indeed often delivered. But it is by no means consistent. Even so, part force of nature, part failing force, Metal Allegiance still remain one of the most fun Metal outlets you could hope to find.