Demon - Taking The World By Storm
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Commercial Dynamite* |
| Genre | Rock/Metal |
Dave Hill
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Vocals
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| Tracks | 7 |
John Waterhouse
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Guitar
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| Runningtime | 51 Min. |
Steeve Brookers
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Guitar
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| Label | Sonic Records |
Nick Bushell
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Bass
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| Release | 1988 |
Scott Crawford
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Drums
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| Country | England |
Steve Watts
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Keyboards
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| Similar artists | --- | ||
Most of you people out there are probably most acquainted with this band from the Blind Guardian cover version of the outstanding Don't Break the Circle cut from Demon's second album, The Unexpected Guest from 1982 but I can assure you this Englishmen have so much more to offer. Their very colourful career has been going in many ups and downs over the years and a couple of albums after the first two very promising ones didn't meet the initial set expectations, even though some inputs on especially The Plague (1983) and Breakout (1987), showed some signs of creativity and tendencies to reach higher ground again. But then, 1988, the magical year of metal when fantastic albums like Maiden's Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, Helloween's Keeper of the Seven Keys pt II, Crimson Glory's Transcendence and Magnum's Wings of Heaven were born, Demon followed the trends of those bands and released their up to now most amazing masterpiece album, Taking the World by Storm. And took the world by storm it truly did and still does in sovereign fashion. This is a recording that I regard as the sole and exclusive role-model for how a super-pompous and mega-epic metal album should sound like to earn the ranking of as good as total masterpiece recognition. The metal world has very seldom been served albums like this one and what Dave Hill and Steve Watts penned down 17 years ago resulted in almost unparalleled compositions that will stand the test of time for all eternity.
Only seven tracks are found on the album but the playtime still reaches over 50 minutes and it's not a single second of boredom whatsoever but as good as sheer and utter perfection. The music is not really pure heavy metal, not at all pure power metal but more an amazing symbiosis of classic heavy metal and more heavy rock flavoured with majestic arrangements. The track material ranges between super-epics drowning in pompousness closing to two figures play time, more dramatised heavy metal inputs and faster heavy rock edged numbers, all emphasizing outstanding musicianship in every aspect.
On Remembrance Day is probably the most ultimate mega-hymn EVER written and therefore also one of the absolute most outstanding metal tracks of all time, every single little song accounted for!!! Starting with flutes, building up slowly with one of the most goose-bumping inducing melodies any musician ever composed and heavily fuelled with Dave Hills' unique and emotional soulful voice this song is the very definition of a true bombastic killer. The rhythm section of the verse with the background flute has never been surpassed, the chorus is simply constructed but fantastically majestic, the long instrumental middle section is a full-blooded display of how a melodic instalment should be composed and the melody-change towards the end repeating to the finish could not possibly have been better executed. Supposedly the most pompous song I've ever heard and put in comparison to other mega-opuses I can only think of Stairway to Heaven as a track that it feels fair and justified to send it up against. The amazing main lead theme of the song has also found its way into the second mega-epic of the release, namely the concluding Time Has Come. This one has a more ballad-style approach than Remembrance Day but is not that far behind in the epic and pompous textures. What do you Think About Hell compiles a much heavier and more dramatic edge while Commercial Dynamite and the title song showcase Demon's faster heavy rock motivations. When an album reaches these amazing heights and is just fully packed with pure highly explosive dynamite cartridges of these epic and pompous proportions it's very hard to put the emotions it stirs when you listen to it into painting words and I'm honestly fresh out on more superlatives.
No extraordinary final punch-lines are therefore needed
to round things up in this case. Demon's Taking the World by Storm is
simply one of THE most essential mile-stones ever recorded and unleashed
and absolutely earns the-album-of the-century designation from this
reviewer. Just get it and prepare for divine greatness!
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Production
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Vocals
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Compositions
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8,5 |
9,5 |
9,5 |
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Nostalgiafactor
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9
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Summary
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9,5 chalices of 10 - Mat |
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