Search - Force of Evil :: Black Empire

High quality metal that reminds me the old days. GREAT!

I. MUNOZ | Montreal, PQ, Canada | 04/14/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is take-no-prisoners in-your-face metal, period. Killer vocals, killer riffs, killer guitar solos and killer everything. If you are into early Fates Warning, this was made specially for you. From a stylish point of view, it belongs to another époque -- that is, to those old good times when bands such as Queensryche, Watchtower and Crimson Glory (plus, again, Fates Warning) were exploring new metal trends and raising eyebrows. Force of Evil is simply darker, but it belongs to that class. Just a warning to the crowd of Mercyful Fate fans: Martin Steene (the vocalist) has few (if something) to do with King Diamond, ok? So, this is not Mercyful Fate Part II, in spite of Shermann and Denner twin axe attack, Bjarne T. Holm power drumming, and of course King Diamond's circa Hal Patino on the bass duties. This is just a new, more melodic, band heading to be one of the bests around, so keep that in your mind: Mercyful Fate's soul is there, but it is not the same band at all.



Back to the album, Force of Evil's Black Empire would have been a classic if recorded in the middle Eighties. It's even far better than their first self-titled release. The production is top notch, and I think this time Steene completely demonstrated that he can pair to the bests vocalists in the genre. Hats off to him! He has the presence, the range, the power and the emotion to become one of the greatest ever -- though Geoff Tate's influence is somewhat too much evident (mostly in "Days of Damien"), but still Steene shines on his own rights.



The rest of the band's performance is tight and heavy, aggressive, with a lot of attitude. I sincerely LOVE this album. If there's something to criticize perhaps is that it maintains the same mood all along, so at a given moment it starts to sound "the same". It is not a revolutionary or "groundbreaking" album neither. But don't be fooled. Its quality is amongst the highest you can find in metal; and also there are on it many layers to discover, many choirs, many small details, a riff here and there... It IS a powerful and brilliant piece of work, no doubt about that. I even dare to confess that I would have liked to record something close to this!



I give then to "Black Empire" four stars and a half -- so I vote five stars to raise the average, to compensate for the other reviewers' votes. If you like any type of good metal, this is for you. This is indeed TRUE metal, the one YOU were expecting since nu-metallers took control of the genre. So, go for it NOW and contribute to the raise of a new metal star! You won't regret it!"

Best metal album in 2005 so far!!!

Eric Chiasson | New-Brunswick, Canada | 06/27/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The guys fom Mercyful Fate still got it! Black Empire is a pure delight. And what about Martin Steene?! Man, can that guy sing or what?! As much as I loved their first album, this one is definitly a huge step up. More darker & heavier with lyrics based on classic horror movies (Friday the 13th, In the mouth of madness, Texas chainsaw massacre...) this album also includes a tribute to the master of horror himself, Stephen King, with the song Disciples of the King. But, Instead of wasting reading this review, buy Black Empire right now. If you're a metal fan, you won't regret it"

To Be As Fair As Possible....

Bradley Headstone | New York | 05/16/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"For those of you who follow my reviews, you know that King Diamond is one of my all time favorites. It would probably be most fair to rate this record with no thoughts of King Diamond. But in all honesty, it just isn't going to happen. (Not with 4 former members of King Diamond / MF.) And without King Diamond to front these excellent musicians, it's not going to be the same. Well, that said, this record is an improvement over their 1st. Interestingly, the vocals on 'Black Empire' are more varied. (Perhaps an attempt to add a King Diamond element.) Hank Shermann, Mike Denner, Hal Patino, and Bjarne T. Holm are in excellent form. Steene does a better job this time at keeping his vocals from being drowned in music. The record is not as solid as King Diamond's works tended to be, but in all fairness to Force of Evil, how many times do people slap one or two hits on an album and then just use filler for the rest of the record? While not quite on par with King Diamond, the consistency of Force of Evil's "Black Empire" is well above average. Some standouts include 'Death Comes Crawling,' 'Days of Damien,' Disciples of the King,' 'Beyond the Gates,' and 'Vorhee's Revenge.' Probably the best thing I can say about this record is that these 4 were some of King Diamond's greatest players. And while they mastered the art of heavy and intense, they also knew that there were times to be more on a classical note. As I said on my review of their last record, if you are a fan of King Diamond, you can't buy this and expect it to be the same. If like me, you are interested in 'Force of Evil,' because you are a King Diamond fan, you will appreciate the record the most if you accept that these 4 musicians (Shermann, Denner, Patino, and Holm) are still in fine form. And yes, this is a great Gothic Metal record with the 80s feel. BUT THE VOCALS ARE DIFFERENT. If this is a problem for you, don't bother. If it is NOT a problem, then by all means, pick this record up and enjoy.

"