Customer Reviews

Undead

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4 star:		(2)
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The stars all seemed to be in perfect alignment for Sweden's Tad Morose when they released their 2000 album Undead. They had a powerful new vocalist in Urban Breed, who joined the band with their 1997 release A Mended Rhyme, they moved from Black Mark to major label (at least in the metal world) Century Media, and the power metal scene was experiencing a revival in popularity.

How did Tad Morose capitalize on these developments? By taking their sound to a higher plateau and releasing what at the time was their best album. The vaguely doomy progressive metal sound of earlier Tad Morose albums was replaced with an aggressive, slightly dark, slightly progressive, power metal style that drew heavily from Iron Maiden and Savatage. Coming at a time when so many other power metal bands were doing their best to sound exactly like Helloween, this dynamic style set Tad Morose apart from the pack.

Undead is very heavy, very melodic, and full of hard charging metal anthems. The songs Another Time Around and Corporate Masters are probably the best tracks on Undead, but there really isn't a weak moment. Christer "Krunt" Andersson is a fantastic guitarist, and he proves here that his talents definitely shine in a power metal setting. Urban Breed's vocal performance is the perfect counterpart to Andersson's thunderous riffs. This is where he began to establish himself as one of the best vocalists in metal.

I enthusiastically recommend Undead to all power metal fans, especially those looking for something that doesn't always follow the formulaic approach. It should especially appeal to fans of Savatage, Brainstorm, Symphorce, Thunderstone, and to a lesser extent Evergrey. The best part is that as good as this album is, the band got even better with their next two releases.

This release is nothing short of awesome! Tad Morose have a talent of remaining true Heavy Metal with heaviness with uplifting feel. I originally heard them on an internet station that plays traditional metal along with bands of present day that are good enough and talented enough to play similar in style. I was blown away by them and I am very glad to say both the Undead and Modus Vivendi Cd's that I purchased didn't let me down when I took the chance. Believe me if you like bands like Dio, Metal Church, Fates Warning, Crimson Glory and Savatage you will love them! They are similar to these bands but still know how to do it so it's their own special mix of melodic HEAVY METAL. Great vocals, cranking guitars and drums with just the right touch of double bass without overdueing it. I can say I have another favorite new metal band who has earned the right to be considered along with Hammerfall as the new bread of classic metal!

On "Undead" Tad Morose have left their slightly progressive doom metal sound for a slightly progressive power metal sound. Keyboards are much less prominent, and the guitars are more aggressive. Overall, I think this is a positive development, not because I generally prefer power to doom, but because Tad Morose seems to do the former better: my favorite song on the previous album, "A Mended Rhyme," was the upbeat "Trader of Souls."

I bought this album after hearing "Another Time Around," a great song available for download at the Century Media website. Unfortunately, it turns out that "Another Time Around" is the best song on the CD, though "Where the Sun Never Shines," with a chorus that reminds me of Dream Theater, is also highly worthy. The rest of the album fits basically into the "pretty good" category. Vocalist Urban Breed is technically very competent, though I can't say that his somewhat rough style is my favorite. The guitars are crunchy and sometimes complex; they do this part of the music better than Nocturnal Rites on their last album but not as well as, say, Jacobs Dream. For power metal completists, this album is definitely recommended. For general metal fans, it may be something to pick up used.

'Undead' exemplifies all the best elements of power metal, escapism, strong musicianship and vocals, excitement and emotional intensity, great artwork (in this case by the singer, Urban Breed). It is a strong album from start to finish, taking the listener on a wild ride to ancient Egypt. The only slight drop in momentum in my opinion is with the title track, though still not a bad song. This is an essential album for any power metal fan, and in my opinion one of the best metal albums of all time. Any fan of Judas Priest or Iron Maiden would enjoy this album. Highly recommended.

Student of heavy metal that I am, I have to admit to being unfamiliar with the music of Tad Morose until now."Undead" being my first aural encounter with these proud sons of Dio,and what a thrill ride it is!I'd like to think that if Mozart were still alive,he'd be creating and listening to the type of power/prog metal that Tad Morose and bands like them forge.

One thing that Tad Morose does on this release is tap into the largely unrealized potential heavy metal has to be incredibly heroic,uplifting, and positive music. That may sound strange coming from an album titled "Undead",but it is so very true. It's hard to name individual tracks,but the majestic vibe that permeates each song is generally the same. I once read a review of Immortal's "Damned In Black" that ended with the author speaking of "black metal's potential to strangle regular metal in it's image".Well,I think that Tad Morose prove that power and prog metal have the potential to fly into the heart of black metal and explode like a supernova within it,reducing it to ash. I guess I'm a wimp,but I just find this kind of alloy more enjoyable that all the gruntin' and growlin' death metal out there(not that that stuff can't be excellent,as it often is).

One more thing that "Undead" does for the genre is throw overboard the sword slingin',dragon slayin' themes that often weigh down this style of metal. One song that does this in a particularly axe-wielding fashion is "Corporate Masters",a song that sounds like Dio's "Rainbow In The Dark" with a lyrical re-write by Warrior Soul's Kory Clarke or Rage Against the Machine's Zach De La Rocha. Tad Morose show with that tune that one need not leave the real world to find ogres,hobgoblins,and evil wizards to battle.Ulitmately,with "Undead",Tad Morose discard the clumsy armor many of their contemporaries still wear and leap into the future to become modern-day crusaders in denim and leather.In other words,it if you think that the traditonal metal world has no fertile soil left,give this a try.