Warrel Dane - Praises To The War Machine

Published April 24 2008

*=Staff's pick	When We Pray Messenger Obey Lucretia My Reflection* Let You Down August Your Chosen Misery The Day The Rats Went To War Brother* Patterns* This Old Man Equilibrium*

Genre	Heavy Metal	Warrel Dane	Vocals
Tracks	12	Peter Wichers	Guitar
Runningtime	46 Min.	Matt Wicklund	Guitar
Label	Century Media	Peter Wichers	Bass
Release	29 April 2008	Dirk Verbeuren	Drums
Country	USA	-	Keyboard
Similar artists	Nevermore

I am not even going to try to review the solo debut from Warrel Dane without mentioning Nevermore, and why should I? Warrel Dane is of course the voice of Nevermore (but you knew that already, didn't you?) and when he indulges in a personal endeavour it is along with the swede Peter Wichers (ex-Soilwork), who also is responsible for the mixing and recording of Praises To The War Machine. You will also find Dirk Verbeuren (Soilwork, ex-Scarve) on drums and Matt Wicklund (ex-Himsa) on guitars with guest appearances from Jeff Loomis (Nevermore) and James Murphy (Obituary, Testament, etc.).

With a voice like Warrel's it is impossible to fail, it is surely unique and one that I personally rank as a favourite and I surrender completely when the album kicks off with the first track When We Pray. The comparisons with Nevermore is obviously impossible to leave out. In general Praises From The War Machine can not be taken as Nevermore album, but partly it most likely can, in many ways. However, this is metal that is more straightforward, less complex and not as technical, obviously not when Jeff Loomis is not playing on the album, apart from the track Messenger where he is nailing down a guest solo.

What Warrel serves outside of Nevermore is modern heavy metal with a raw edge yet an elegant sense for the melodic. There is also a high dose of emotion in the music, but of course, much of that comes naturally from his voice. And I love when he (in likeness with Nevermore) in a song leaves room for both emotion and aggression as in the track The Day The Rats Went To War which features a solo from James Murphy. Although, even though there is a more constrained aggression compared to Nevermore, there is a large likeness in this with his "ordinary job".

I simply have to write about quite a few more songs, there are just too many good songs that can't be left out here in my review. The calm and personal song Brother is ballad that is a highlight on the album, as it has a sad touch to the music and his singing is even more convincing than ever. Patterns is another song with resemblances to Nevermore; melodic, mid-tempo, and with a flow to it that is simply wonderful. It is a song that I find similar to the progressive metal coming from the band Redemption. A song that it is really powerful in its calm way is This Old Man. With the amazing guitar-line it has, the already powerful song becomes even more dynamic.

I don't know if it is a good thing when you find a cover song being one of the top song on an album, but here it is among those anyway. A phenomenal version of Lucretia My Reflection, originally done by Sisters Of Mercy, even though I am not familiar with the original version of the song I do know a little about Sisters Of Mercy. In addition, Warrel Dane has made this song perfectly fitting his style and made it sound so naturally heavy metal compared to the sound that you are used to hear from Sisters Of Mercy. The last song I would like to point out is the closing song of the album, Equilibrium.

To wrap it all up I have to say that this is a very strong album, with many highlights and no weak spots at all. A solid impression is what I get and if this holds up after even more listening, which I believe it will, this might be a strong candidate for the album of the year. My final words have to be; go buy, now!

See also review of: The Obsidian Conspiracy , Enemies Of Reality

Performance	Originality	Production	Vocals	Songwriting
9	6	8	10	9

Summary
9 chalices of 10 - Thomas