Rage - Speak Of The Dead

*=Staff's pick	Suite Lingua Mortis (Tracks 1-8) - Mortituri Te Salutant (Instr.) - Prelude Of Souls (Instr.) - Innocent* - Depression (Instr.) - No Regrets* - Confusion (Instr.) - Black (Instr.) - Beauty No Fear Soul Survivor* Full Moon Kill Your Gods Turn My World Around Be With Me Or Be Gone* Speak Of The Dead

Genre	Heavy Metal	Peavy Wagner	Vocals
Tracks	15	Victor Smolski	Guitar
Runningtime	53 Min.	-	Guitar
Label	Nuclear Blast	Peavy Wagner	Bass
Release	24 March 2006	Mike Terrana	Drums
Country	Germany	-	Keyboards
Similar artists	---

Rage is back with a highly anticipated new release. Last year the band celebrated their 20th anniversary and it's been twenty years of constant touring and releasing albums in an ever flowing stream. For me Rage stepped into the elite when Peter 'Peavy' Wagner formed the band into a power trio worthy of its name. Victor Smolski is one of my favourite guitar players of today with his unique style that is catchy and technical without showing off. The hard hitting drummer Mike Terrana is also one of today's greatest drummers and it's obvious that Peavy struck gold when he hired these guys.

Thankfully the trio has stayed together for quite some time now and Speak Of The Dead is their fourth album as a three piece. This time the band has revitalized an old idea as they have decided to continue with the classic period of Rage which also was the case on albums like Lingua Mortis, XIII and Ghosts. Speak Of The Dead is divided in two separate parts and the first one is the orchestrated Suite Lingua Mortis and the second one is seven tracks of classic Rage in the vain of Soundchaser and Unity.

The first half of the album belongs to the Suite Lingua Mortis that was recorded with the symphonic orchestra of the city of Minsk. It consists of eight tracks but I regard this as two separate songs surrounded with instrumentals or passages to carry the suite forward. The songs are, simply put, phenomenal. The arrangements on Innocent are splendid and Peavy really shines on this track because the vocal melodies are one of its strongest assets. No Regrets must from now on be considered as a Rage classic. It opens up with a heavy stomping beat and a strange but efficient guitar riff. The melodies provided by the orchestra are extremely infectious and catchy. The chorus is great already from the beginning but when a choir is added at the end of the song it creates a crescendo that reaches higher than the sky(!).

When the second half arrives with the classic Rage sound that we are so familiar with I instantly get the feeling that the main emphasis has been set on the suite we've just heard. No Fear is speedy and heavy but lacks necessary hooks and interesting riffs. Unfortunately that is also the case on the lion part of the second half with the exception of Soul Survivor and Be With Me Or Be Gone that inhabits great choruses and interesting arrangements.

I am a bit puzzled about my feelings here since the first half is a real knock-out but I can't look away from the fact that the second part feels a bit lukewarm. It is still very good but it doesn't seem to fit with the first half. I'm in favour of diversity but the border between the first and second half are way to obvious, it almost feels like two different records. But enough of criticism, at the end of the day this is another really good record from a fantastic band.

See also review of: Seasons Of The Black , 21 , Carved In Stone , Soundchaser , Unity , From The Cradle To The Stage

Production	Vocals	Compositions
8	7,5	7,5

Summary
7,5 chalices of 10 - Hawk