Customer Reviews

Nuclear Blast 20th Anniversary: Into the Light

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as what would be expected this is definitely a mixed bag. Not trying to say this is not worth it but some tracks definitely are better than others. The standouts I would say would be the Hansi Kursch one and the final track with the woman from Nightwish. I think part of the problem is that all the songs are virtually written by the same person and some of the talents on here are not involved at all except for singing the songs. I think if there was more collaboration, there would be better songs. Another thing is it says all-stars and it does have a lot of great performers but it is definitely geared for the power metal/gothic crowd, which is weird because nuclear blast has more variety. Another thing I thought would've been a good idea would be if not just the singers but that the other musicians were different on each track too which would really help mix the collaboration up. I think putting a singer in with a different guitarist, bassist and drummer from all different bands would be a cool idea.

With this CD there also is an additional disc with some favorites and some unreleased track. This also is a mixed bag. There are some good stuff on here as well but very inconsistent. I think if they were going to add another disc they should've kept it strictly to a "best of nuclear blast" sort of deal or have the entire cd unreleased material. Instead, this second CD just seems rushed.

If you like many of the singers from power/gothic metal bands I definitely recomend picking this up. I also recommend this to people who like hearing a variety of metal because you do get that. I just hope the next time they do this, they put more variety musically and mix up more of the musicians instead of just the singers.

"Into the light" is the anniversary all star project album originally released in 2007 celebrating the 20th anniversary of "Nuclear Blast" as a heavy metal record label. The project features a rather stable instrumental line up with each song featuring a different lead singer. Vocalists participating on this album are Tobias Sammet, Toni Kakko, Peter Wagner, Mats Leven, Hansi Kursch, Andi Deris, Odleif Stensland, Marko Hietala and Tarja Turunen.

Now, as far as songwriting goes, the whole album is composed by "Rage" virtuoso guitarist Victor Smolski with occasional aid in lyrics by his fellow bandmate Peter Wagner. As expected, Victor plays all the guitars on the album while also handling the bass and keyboards on most of them. The drums are performend by Andre Hilgers (who would become the new drummer of "Rage" after the completion of the project). The musical approach of "Into the light" is falls within the melodic metal genre and in fact comes rather close to the style of "Rage" while the mood is bound to change from one song to the next. Favorite tracks include: "Dirty Wings", "Ruling the World", "A perfect day", "and Inner Sanctuary" and "In the picture".

Through a very practical view, one could also regard "Into the light" as a Victor Smolski solo album, being the only consistent presense throughout the album and the master songwriter. He also opens the album's booklet notes welcoming the audience and commenting on the experience; following each of the singers participating, contributes a few liner notes of their relationship with the record label. Overall, "Into the light" is a satsifactory all star project that brings to front the amazing songwriting talent of Smolski while also carrying the essence of "Rage".

The counterpart to the Out of the Dark album, Into the Light was a project put together by Rage/Mind Odyssey guitarist Victor Smolski to help celebrate Nuclear Blast's 20th anniversary. Where Out of the Dark focused on the label's death and black metal side, Into the Light celebrates Nuclear Blast's extremely strong stable of progressive, power and traditional metal artists. A different vocalist performs on each of the 10 songs on the album, including Tobias Sammet (Edguy), Peavy Wagner (Rage), Tony Kakko (Sonata Arctica), Mats Leven (Therion), Marcel Schirmer (Destruction), Hansi Kursch (Blind Guardian), Andi Deris (Helloween), Odlief Stensland (Communic), Marco Heitala (Nightwish) and Tarja Turunen (ex-Nightwish).

Smolski wrote and played guitar on the entire album, and his fellow Rage member Peavy Wagner wrote most of the lyrics, so Into the Light is pretty much a proggy Rage album with a bunch of different singers. The various vocalists certainly put their stamp on these songs, but you could switch the singers around at random and the songs probably wouldn't feel much different. The highlights of the album are the performances by Mats Leven, Hansi Kursch, Andi Deris and or course Tarja, but I don't think anyone turned in a weak vocal performance.

Into the Light is an interesting concept, and one that should prove interesting to fans of the various vocalists who contributed. I think it would have been more memorable if the singers were allowed to write their own lyrics, but I understand why that wasn't possible. Still, that might have been the touch that moved Into the Light from "good" to "great".

NOTE: Into the Light comes with a bonus disc featuring a mix of rarities and singles from (then) current Nuclear Blast artists, including Hammerfall, Helloween, Gotthard, After Forever, Ride the Sky, Thunderstone, Threshold, Amorphis, Candlemass and Sirenia. It would have made more sense if the second disc had album tracks from the bands that each vocalist on the main CD sing for, but this is still a pretty cool addition, even if I already had most of these songs from the regular albums.

Sammet, Deris, and Hansi all on the same CD!!! If you know these names then you need this album! It highlights the best Nuclear Blast has to offer. If you enjoy Power Metal, and Prog Metal, then buy this album.

Why doesn't every recording label do something like this? It's a great idea, and it allows listeners to get a little taste of a variety of different bands. At least it did with the one that Roadrunner release. This one exposes listeners to several different singers, but the music is all written by one guy, which kind of limits the creative integrity of the whole process. The singers featured on this album don't even get to write the lyrics for the songs, which bummed me out cause the majority of singers on here are really great lyricists. I know it probably sounds like I am trashing this CD, but I promise I am not. I am just addressing the flaws of what could have been a really amazing compilation. It focuses on the power metal side of Nuclear Blast Records, whereas Out Of The Dark focuses on the melodic death metal side.

This CD does feature some really great singers. Featuring Tobias Sammett, Tony Kakko, Mats Leven, Tarja Turunen, and Peter Wagner, just to name a few, there is some real talent here. A few of the songs don't really work for me, but the ones that do more than make up for it.

1. Dirty Wings (feat. Tobias Sammett of Edguy)- This song rules, plain and simple. Sammett completely kills with this song. I have been a casual fan of Edguy for a few years now, so to see him on this compilation and to hear him after so long is a huge treat. One of the best on the CD. 5/5
2. Terrified (feat. Peter Wagner of RAGE)- I don't really care for this song to be honest. The music is good but I just don't like Peter's voice. 2/5
3. Ruling The World (feat. Tony Kakko of Sonata Arctica)- My favorite singer features his talents in this song, but it's a lot different from what we've heard from Tony in the past. It took some time to grow on me but I love this song, one of the best on the album. 5/5
4. Death Is Alive (feat. Mats Leven of Therion)- This song is great, it's a slower track but the female vocals really make the song something special, along with the tempo change near the end of the song. 5/5
5. Bloodsuckers (feat. Marcel Schirmer of Destruction)- A bit of a more thrashy, 80's Megadeth sounding song. The vocals seem a little more thrashy than the rest of what we hear on this album, but it's a good enough song, pretty enjoyable. 3/5
6. Slaves To The Desert (feat. Hansi Kursch of Blind Guardian)- This song starts slow but picks up after a bit with a weird techno sounding keyboard sample then kicks into full gear then slows down again once Hansi starts singing. This guy has a hell of a voice, and this is a very good song. 4/5
7. A Perfect Day (feat. Andi Deris of Helloween)- This song is full on rock and kind of reminds me of Sonata Arctica's earlier stuff, probably a track that Tony should have instead of Andy, but it's a good song. Andi puts on a great performance here. 3/5
8. Eternally (feat. Oddsleif Stensland of Communic)- Another pretty slow song compared to the track before it. Nothing special but fun to listen to. 3/5
9. Inner Sanctuary (feat. Marco Hietala of Nightwish)- A fun song to listen to with some KILLER guitar work, especially the beginning when the harmonics come in, it's a bit of a strange track but it's pretty fun to listen to. Not too thrilled with Marco's voice, but he does that best he can on here. 4/5
10. In The Picture (feat. Tarja Turunen formerly of Nightwish)- The epic track of the album, and a very beautiful, enthralling performance from the lovely Tarja. It just goes to show that she doesn't need Nightwish to have some amazing music. 5/5

I was a little woried about this when it was originally released so I was a little hesitant on spending the hard earned cash> I found it fairly cheap on here so I picked it up and I was glad I did. I'm not going to go into detail about every track on this but if you like power metal you should check this out.