By Ryan Falla
Damn, there hasn’t been a straight up classic heavy metal album of this quality in a good while. The new record, ‘Rise to Glory’, by Japanese metal veterans Loudness, is out. Loudness has been active since 1981, and when you pop on this record you’d think you were shifted back to the early ’80s. Rise to Glory is pure, unadulterated heavy metal; pangs of thrash, flavors of power, tastes of groove, ‘Rise to Glory’ is simply “heavy metal” in its purest form.
There are no attempts to craft the music of ‘Rise to Glory’ into a “nostalgia grab”, nor is there a sense of the music being “out of date”. Loudness brings a very up-to-date style of classic NWOBHM. Another huge plus for the band, in a category which other classic-esque metal bands, is their ability to show themselves as modern rockers. You don’t get the sense that these guys are simply rehashing the music they made from 20 years ago.
‘Rise to Glory’ is a fresh taste of classic heavy metal that comes in a scene filled with the opposite, it tends to be that this style of music comes across as tasting leftovers from dinner multiple days prior, yet Loudness carries their music with a natural integrity that powers a fresh vibrancy within this record.
This record opens with a trippy instrumental track, the ambient ‘8118’ bringing the record into life before passing off the torch to ‘Soul on Fire’. The first three tracks are big hitters, not to say that the rest of the album falls to the wayside, because it doesn’t, but holy hell these first three tracks do a fantastic job at immersing you within the record.
When you hear the track ‘I’m Still Alive’, you’ll realize that classic heavy metal hasn’t gone anywhere, it’s only been in hibernation. There are plenty of bands capable of playing to the absolute roots of what metal is and used to be and not come off as hackneyed or “nostalgia-rockers”. There has been an uptick in sentiments going against classic metal acts around the music scene lately, mostly for the cause of bringing new acts to life.
Loudness brings music to the table and feels as fresh as any new, quality record nowadays. Maybe it has to do with that fact that many American-made classic metal bands tend to attempt a revival of what they did in days past. Not Loudness, instead of revival they turn their attention to rising, evidence by the title of their new release.
Loudness isn’t attempting a rehash, they aren’t attempting a revival, all they care to do is what they do best. Not what they did before, but what they can do best. It’s efforts like theirs that bring fantastic records such as ‘Rise to Glory’ into the fold.
Despite how you may feel on classic metal rockers, all that matters when it comes to making good music is integrity and proper purpose. Integrity within the genre Loudness works in, no thinly veiled revitalization attempts, only properly actualized music. That allows not only a sense of respectability towards Loudness, but a genuine thrill for what they bring to the table with ‘Rise to Glory’.
Rating: 8.5/10
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Record Label: earMusic
Release Date: January 26 2018
Track Listing:
01. 8118 (Instrumental) (1:49)
02. Soul on Fire (5:50)
03. I’m Still Alive (3:18)
04. Go For Broke (4:56)
05. Until I See the Light (4:43)
06. The Voice (4:32)
07. Massive Tornado (4:56)
08. Kama Sutra (Instrumental) (3:20)
09. Rise to Glory (4:18)
10. Why and For Whom (6:01)
11. No Limits (5:10)
12. Rain (6:20)
13. Let’s All Rock (6:01)
Total Duration: 1:01:14
Loudness links: website | facebook | twitter | instagram