Rainbow - Rising (1976)

Compared to its predecessor Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, Rising cranks it all up to eleven: the sword and sorcery, the heaviness, the complexity and length of the songs, the instrumental performances - it is basically the quintessential record of the Dio-era. Did the first album sound like the band was dipping their toe into a new world of hard guitar-centered music, in Rising they jumped fully into it.

Probably the best example is the epic Stargazer. Everything is larger than life in this song. A miniature-opera about the rise and (quite literal) fall of a wizard who enslaved the people to build him a tower to the stars. The way guitar and vocals are dramatizing the story here works so well and expressive and organic, with both being at the peak of their abilities, that its a pure, uplifting joy listening to.

Might the rest of the album not quite have the same epic dimension, with predominantly fast-paced songs, it is nevertheless spectacular. A good part of this is due to Cozy Powell's dense and varied drumming, which ties the songs together and works as a perfect counterpoint to the stunning performances of the albums main actors, Blackmore and Dio.

I think in hindsight you can see how influential Rising was to 80's metal: The breakneck guitar shredding, the fantasy-centered cover artwork and lyrics, delivered by an almost operatic vocalist and the occasional keyboard flavouring - all these bits became commonplaces in the decade after.
Its just a shame that the band initially wasn't too successful. About five years later, when the world was finally ready for this type of music and bands like Iron Maiden and Manowar filled the venues playing quite similar material, Blackmore had pushed Rainbow into radio-friendly territories instead. Luckily for us, Dio kept on waving the heavy-metal banner high. First with Black Sabbath and later as solo-artist with his own band.
All in all, Rising is definitely a milestone in the evolution of metal and an underrated masterpiece. And even the cover is less eye-watering than the first one!

Therion - Live in Midgard (2002)

Some albums, I admit, didn't quite got my approval on first listening. Live in Midgard is probably the best example for this. I bought it around its release back in 2002 or '03, put it into my CD player, and didn't touch it again for years.

I can't tell for sure why, maybe I was just looking for something else around that time, or the music did simply overwhelm me (more about that later). Fact is that I discovered the song Wine of Aluqah on a gothic metal compilation, instantly liked it, recognized the name of the band, got the album - and wasn't impressed.

Anyway, what ever led to my initial rejection, I can't relate to it anymore and today Live in Midgard is amongst my favourites of the genre.

The album was recorded in 2001 during their Secret of the Runes-Tour and features a variety of different concert venues in Colombia, Germany and Hungary. While this could have resulted in a bit of a disjointed experience, the opposite is the case really. The whole album is a coherent and organic thunderstorm of sound that is just spectacular. Such power and dynamic! It combines the rawness of metal perfectly with the sensibility of classical instruments and vocals. I can't really name any other recording that deserves the term symphonic metal more than this.
Ironically though, compared to other bands of the genre, Therion remains at the same time probably the least accessible. Their songs are not really written for the charts, like say Nightwish does and therefore usually don't have singles-quality. And maybe that's just the reason why I value them so highly. Its so easy in the genre to fall into the trap of kitsch, Isn't it?

As much as I like their songwriting, I find Therion's studio-albums often a bit sterile and overproduced. Everything sounds pitch perfect and tidy, but the spirit of the moment just refuses to show itself. Not this record though. It is very well produced, but also keeps the dirt and the immediate dynamic of a live performance alive and definitely kicking.

Despite the norse-mythology-related title (and the title of the tour), Live in Midgard doesn't features overwhelmingly many songs from their 2001 album Secret of the Runes, but a healthy mixture of tracks from their past as well. The setlist reaches as back as their earliest, death/doom metal material, like A Black Rose, Beauty in Black, Wings of the Hydra and ("the fucking") Riders of Theli and includes the song Seawinds, a relatively obscure title from Accept. There is even some ABBA thrown in with the song Summer Night City. Believe it or not!

This said, the album isn't the most diverse, Therion stays Therion - and that means epic, relatively complex metal. And plenty of that. It is very much an all-out attack on the senses, with just a few breathers in between. Maybe it was this intensity, that kept me away from it initially. You certainly have to be in the right mood to enjoy this album in its entirety.

All in all, Live in Midgard is truly an experience. A dense and compelling tour de force. A operatic thunderstorm that leaves the listener saturated with sound. Not an easy listen for sure and probably not really recommendable for newbies, but highly enjoyable if you like epic symphonic metal that is maybe a bit edgier than what you usually get.