Maximum Metal Rating Legend

Metalium - Demons Of Insanity: Chapter Five - 2005 - Armageddon Music

Track Listing1. Earth In Pain (Intro) 2. Power Of Time 3. Demons Of Insanity 4. Cyber Horizon 5. Ride On 6. Endless Believer 7. Sky Is Falling 8. Destiny 9. Mother Earth 10. Out Of The Silence 11. Atrocity 12. Silence Of The Night 13. Visions Of Paradise 14. One By One

I'm not exactly sure how Metalium manages to be so darn heavy. Their albums are simply crushing from top to bottom. Combine that with the brilliant production values of bassist Lars Ratz and you get power metal's equivalent of Pantera. Now with four releases under them I am surprised and disappointed that this band is not more widely accepted in both the power metal community and heavy metal in general. I've never understood why bands like Iced Earth and Nevermore can find a bigger audience outside of their specific genre while bands like Metalium and Paragon can't. All four of the bands I named are fabulous acts, but for some reason or another some bands are more successful than others. With that little dose of pulpit preaching finished, let's look at Metalium's latest chapter, "Demons Of Insanity".

Metalium's last album didn't connect with me. I really can't explain it, the songs just weren't there. Perhaps I didn't spend enough time on it, or I was too preoccupied with the smaller, more underground scene at the time. For some reason or another the album just skipped past me and I never took the time to go back and give it a chance. Anyhoo this new album is the exact opposite. The songs are there, the riffs are fantastic, and again the production is some of the best in the metal business. Metalium has really picked up where they left off on "State Of Triumph" and "Hero Nation", leaving "As One" as a bad afterthought at this point.

Those of you who haven't heard this bombastic crew should step up now and grab this one. It really is the perfect example of what this band does so well. Fans of fast, chugging riffs will indulge on "Power Of Time" and "Sky Is Falling". The slower, more epic crowd will enjoy songs like "Mother Earth". For me my favorite aspect of Metalium is the slower cuts, the songs that contain Earth shattering groove and vocalist Henning Basse's more melodic range. A perfect example of this is "Ride On", which harkens back to the band's second release. I really can't say enough about Lars Ratz's production job. His control panel efforts really take these solid songs into a higher plane. Fans of his work should check out Seventh One as well.


--EC 04.23.05