Regeneration - TIMELORD (2007)

Regeneration - Timelord

Shrapnel Records

Power Metal / Speed Metal / Thrash Metal

Power metal is generally a genre that is somewhat misunderstood, just like the extreme variations of metal. Sure, some of it is quite flowery and—to put it lightly—cheesy, and with this idea in mind plenty of people blow off power metal as a genre for nerds, devoid of emotion or passion. This is wrong. There are plenty of bands who pump just as much balls and soul into the genre as anyone else, and to dismiss bands such as Blind Guardian or Iced Earth just because of a stereotype, despite their being quite ballsy, is a tragedy in my eyes. This is one of those bands who should not be dismissed because bands like Dragonforce and Nightwish or something like Fairyland (like, really?) are highlighted as the archetype of power metal. Regeneration is some ballsy power metal.

Put in as much bitchin artwork as you want, it won't change the fact that your band's name is FAIRYLAND.

Like Iced Earth, Timelord definetly take to some of the more abrasive elements from thrash and speed metal, but still being based in whirlwind solo, soaring vocal and sci-fi themed power metal. You can see this in the guitar work on the album, in which the lead work is based in melodic, soaring dual lead guitars. The riffs are also melodic enough to keep you interested, yet aggressive/thrashy enough to keep a sense of energy flowing through the listener, and a mosh flowing in the live sense. Timelord don’t rely on sweep wankery or pinch harmonics to sound fancyeither, which is somewhat rare in the more accessible types of metal. The guitar tone and timbre here is very well rounded, giving it a good, thick feel so that it’s like a barrage of notes that you can also identify and listen to, instead of a thin-sounding wall of gain. With this, the other guitar staples of power metal such as dual-lead harmonies, clean pieces, and shredded, melodic solos come out sounding better then great.

 The bass guitar presence is fairly recognizable on this record, which probably helps add to its thick tone. Well, sure, The bass work usually just emulates the tremolo-picked riffs, but there are plenty of instances where it has its own, separate lines, which helps with the diversity of the record. The drumming has its fair share of glory as well, being diverse in a lot of rhythems and technique, from odd-time gallops, to marches to just bombastic flurries. You do have your typical galloping and blast beat with tremolo riffs combos in there, but there is plenty of whirlwind drumming and chaos, which makes the album a hell of a lot more entertaining.

Finally, the vocalist himself is very talented, having a diverse range and an obvious niche for power metal vocals. The only problem is that he suffers from the same problem a lot of power metal vocalists have, in that he has Hansei/Barlou syndrome—he sounds exactly like a mix of those two singers, thus making his voice somewhat unrecognizable from other power metal vocalists, which doesn’t help the fact that the band are not exactly tearing the power metal book a new one when it comes to changing the scene. Lyrically, Regeneration has an overall theme of being enslaved and fighting against your oppressors, with the first five tracks of the album somewhat related in their lyrical concepts, seemingly telling the story of humanity being enslaved by AI. With this, powerful lyrics akin to struggles and time and the like are present. They are catchy and memorable and you will easily find yourself humming to or singing the words of “Dawn of Dissent,” “The Great Machine,” or “Aeons Calling.” The only problem in the lyrical department is that there tend to be fewer lyrics than one would expect a 6-minute song to have, and some songs end up with a bit of a repetitive chorus. But they don’t keep the same three riffs over and over, they change up the verse riff work and only really keep the riffs of the chorus the same, which was a smart move.

Timelord

As far as power metal goes, this is hardly anything groundbreaking. As good and catchy as it is, Metal Church, Blind Guardian, and Manila Road have been there and done that( Although there are enough vague progressive tendencies to separate them from those bands). So, with that in mind, if you’re looking for something groundbreaking within the power metal genre, do not look here. But if you are looking for something to get you into the genre or just looking for a tasty, smooth power metal fix, this very well may pique your interest like a fine whisky. 7.5/10