Mad With Power VI-Day 1 (2023) - Madison, WI

 Post #398

On August 18th, a Friday afternoon, I headed north to Wisconsin's Capitol to finally catch a festival of Power Metal I'd been looking forward to for years: Mad With Power VI. This time, 2 bands I've been following were both scheduled to perform. I had seen them both for the 1st time back in 2011, at Dame-Nation III: Shield of Wings and A Sound of Thunder. Unfortunately, just days before the show, A Sound of Thunder had to cancel due to injury. Still, I was hyped for this music fest, and wasn't going to miss it!

With travel time being a major constraint on a weekday (the drive to the venue would take me over 3 hours), I utilized the promoter's Livestream on Twitch to enjoy the first couple bands of the evening. While I was only able to listen, my daughter got to enjoy the video feed as well. The opening act was my longtime favorite: Shield of Wings.

Shield of Wings are Chicago's answer for symphonic metal, and I feel with each passing show they prove they truly hold their own. I feel like their opening performance set a very high bar for all the acts to follow. The crowd was pumped, and into their captivating performance from the first note to the last measure of their set. Shield of Wings delivered a stunning performance of many of the best tracks from their new album 'Unfinished'. They even included a cover from The Elden Ring video game soundtrack! While I heard it, and caught glimpses when I stopped at red lights on my journey, it all just made me wish I could be there in the venue with them. In time, another opportunity will present itself. But for now, I leave you with their setlist...

-Cedar

-Native Colossus

-Breathing

-The Final Battle (Elden Ring ST-cover)

-Mind of Myth

-Wetland

-Sunfire Shower

Next up was Greyhawk, a Seattle-based power metal band. They came out and immediately struck with soaring riffs, cascading lead guitar solos, and powerful vocals delivered with deep baritone and a force of will. Their tempos were fast and furious. their themes were medieval and fantastic. Again, I had to hear the majority of their set through the livestream, but we did manage to arrive just in time to hear their closing number. Their debut released in 2020, and they have a new single from 2022. Look for this band to release a 2nd album in the near future! Their setlist for Mad With Power VI...

-Gates of Time

-Frozen Star

-Call of the Hawk

-Halls of Insanity

-Don't Wait for the Wizard

-Steelbound

We took a few minutes to browse the merch, meet the members of Shield of Wings face-to-face. They were gracious enough to pose for photos with fans. Then we made our way back to the floor to prepare for the evening's literal surprise: what band would fill the vacant slot in the lineup?

The answer was Seeker Pearl. Seeker Pearl are a Chicago-based heavy metal band blending elements of hardcore, ambient-metal, and come electronic elements. Vocally their singer delivered a lot of smooth melodies in the verses and often let it rip with screamed choruses. Their lead guitarist gave us some great guitar leads and solos here and there too. When they went heavy, they really hit hard! 

They seem to be the newest band of the entire lineup. Their earliest release on Spotify is from 2022. They seem to take a more modern approach to the art of recording, by releasing singles as they record them. Their artist page features several singles, but not full-length 'album' as of yet. Regardless, I will keep following them for new releases- singles, EPs, or full-length albums: whatever they choose to give us! Songs available to stream from their setlist are:

-Tempest

-Ouroboros

-Shadow Machine

-Deja Vu

-New Tide

-Oversoul

Next up was Wilderun- a Boston-area Progressive power metal band. They have been around since 2012, with their latest release being in 2022. Their compositions are epic in length, and span multiple genres as they incorporate symphonic elements, folk metal, power and death metal. If I would compare them to any band it may be Opeth. If their setlist seems brief, keep in mind that most of the songs they played are in the 8-10 minute rage!

-Passenger

-Far from Where Dreams Unfurl

-O Resolution!

-Vaunting Veins

The penultimate band of the evening was Powerglove. These guys changed things up and really gave the audience several laughs as their gimmick became evident as they took the stage: the played power-metal versions of video game theme songs! (and a couple cartoon soundtracks thrown in for good measure!) Some of their selections go WAAAY back! I'm talking Street Fighter, and the original Tetris! For each song, they also had a video element, displaying scenes from the video games or cartoons while that jammed out with ferocious intensity! The guitar solos were top-notch, and they even had perfectly timed sound effects! Their setlist:

-Kraid's Lair

-Tetris

-Under the Sea

-Kirby

-Guile's Theme

-Age of Aggression

-Gotta Catch 'Em All

-Mario Minor

Finally, it was time for the final band. Seven Spires. Another band from Boston, Seven Spires were the perfect headliner, Symphonic power metal with some death-metal and black-metal screams woven into different songs... They could swoon the audience with operatic vocal in one minute and devastate us with demonic screams the next. Musically their talent was superb: complex song structures, intense tempos, and soaring guitar solos to rival the likes of DragonForce. They were like Nightwish and Jinjer rolled into one.

They are a relatively new band themselves, with their first album, Solveig, from 2017, and their latest- Gods of Debauchery, dropping in 2021. As a fan, I am so glad to see that they've made it to this side of the pandemic, and eagerly look forward to their next new album, whenever they can manage to release it. For now, I'll leave you with their setlist:

-Gods of Debauchery

-Distant Lights

-Lightbringer

-Ghost of Yesterday

-Succumb

-Drowner of Worlds

-Bury You

-Gods Amongst Men

-Oceans of Time

-Echoes of Eternity

-Serenity

-Fall with Me

-Dreamchaser

-With Love from the Other Side

-The Trouble with Eternal Life

-This God is Dead

-Through Lifetimes

If your are a spotify user, check out this playlist, featuring all the setlists described here, in order:

https://spotify.link/Hpzi69SgVDb

If you use a different music streaming service, try visiting www.tunemymusic.com to convert it to you music app of choice!

And lastly, if it is still available, you can watch the archived livestream of the whole show on the Twich.tv channel by Lords of the Trident here: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1902334654

Mad With Power VI was a 2-day music festival, and this was only the 1st day. I unfortunately could not attend the 2nd day, but again, the livestream should be available at the same Twitch channel. 

Happy Headbanging!

Shield Of Wings - Unfinished (2022)

 Post #395

It's been a while since I reviewed Shield of Wings on this blog. Their first recording, the EP Solarium, was released in 2011. I reviewed a concert they played in August of that year, and have been following them since then. 

I was pleasantly surprised to hear their announcement of a new, full-length album, Unfinished. I was instantly curious to hear how they sound on this new material. Guitarist and main songwriter, James Gregor, and fellow founding member Patrick Eulitz (drums), have recruited a new lineup, featuring Aliyah Daye on keyboards and backing vocals, Alex Luke on bass guitar, and Lara Mordian on lead vocals. My first exposure to any of the new music was their music video for the first single, "Wetland". After that experience, I was eager to hear more. Their overall sound and style of symphonic metal sounds complete, fresh, and epic! Beyond that, the recording reverberates with top-notch production. Every instrument can be heard crisp and clear.

To reference a couple established bands in the symphonic metal genre, I'd compare Lara's vocal style to Epica's Simone Simons. Lara uses a smooth blending of head-voice and chest-voice throughout most songs. Aliyah adds backing vocals in styles ranging from melodic harmonies to death growls. While this may seem stylistically similar to Epica as well, Shield of Wings doesn't implement the harsher vocal style as prominently. Theirs is a primarily melodic, operatic style of vocals with a small peppering of death growls, and only in a fraction of their songs.

Musically their formula sounds close to mid-era Nightwish, as they use heavy guitars, and synthesized symphonic and folk elements to navigate the mood of each piece. Patrick Eulitz could practically be channeling Nightwish's Jukka Nevalainen, he's so precise with the rapid, double-bass drums, and keeping a tight and powerful rhythm through the heavy moments of the music. Nearly every track incorporates multiple elements, with segments that shift from dark heavy tones, to light operatic phrases and back again. Tempos ramp up to furious paces, only to calm again and build the contrast further. Yet every transition flows so seamlessly, they sound like they've been in this field for years, if not decades.

On the track "Cedar", they introduce elements of folk and Celtic music, with a wide array of instruments to match. Heavy guitars and symphonic elements join in, and make this song an immersing musical experience. It's one of my favorite track on the album.

The closing track, "The Scarred Clay Reshaping" is the crowning jewel. The longest track at seven and a half minutes, and lyrics that bring the album full circle, even referencing their early EP in the chorus: "Unfinished solarium, one more cut of the seeker's tongue." Themes of life, struggle, despair and rebirth abound throughout the album, but culminate in the closing lyric: "Ode to the scarred clay reshaping, ode to the ever-flowing river!"

Prepare to be transfixed... Here is the video for "Wetland":

The overall lyrical composition of this album is truly soul-searching, with themes about attainment on levels both personal and existential. Every element of this album, from the music, instrumentation, lyrics, direction, production, mixing, and performance is truly top-notch. Unfinished is, without question, my favorite symphonic metal album since Nightwish's masterpiece Once. If you have even the slightest appreciation for the symphonic metal genre, you owe it to yourself to listen to these songs. Blending beauty and aggression so seamlessly, I feel Shield Of Wings have a bright future ahead. 

Recommended tracks from Unfinished:

-Crushing Hail (another incredible music video, with lyrics as as well!)

-Frozen Harbor (favorite lyric: "Too old to write of innocence, too young to write of wisdom.")

-Cedar (as mentioned previously, this is the 'folk-symphonic-metal' track!)

-Wetland

-Mind of Myth (A favorite lyric from this one: "If I do Not Die How Will I be Reborn?")

-The Scarred Clay Reshaping

(advance digital review copy provided by James Gregor and Shield of Wings)

Shield of Wings' music is available on several platforms, such as...

Bandcamp

Amazon Music

Spotify

Stream, Download, or Order a CD copy today!

*Unfinished is scheduled for release on February 11th, 2022.