ILIUM - review added 15th June 2009
Album Review: Ageless Decay (2009)
For fans of: Power Metal... and lots of lovely double kick drums
Ilium is a technical and speedy power metal band from Newcastle, Australia. Ageless decay is the band's fourth release.
The band was formed in 1998 under the name Iliad but soon changed to the moniker we see today. The line-up is Mike DiMeo (vocals), Jason Hodges (guitar), Adam Smith (guitar, bass and keys) and Tim Yatras (drums)
Mike DiMeo takes over the vocal reins from previous singer, (the amusingly titled) Lord Tim. Mike was formally the singer on several Riot albums plus the most recent Masterplan release. His addition to the Ilium ranks creates a formidable team, although the character of his voice dominates the record.
The sound itself is extremely, yet pleasantly heavy in places and many sections of the record are stunningly quick. There's loads of Dragonforce style high pitched guitar shenanigans, plenty of double kick drums and a solid backdrop of melodious keyboards. The result is a mix of Riot (especially the recent Army Of One release), Iron Maiden and a huge chunk of Axel Rudi Pell. The inflections in DiMeo's singing are so like Johnny Gioeli's it's uncanny. The way the songs are put together - with complex story telling rather simple rhyming verses - is very like A.R.P. too.
Opening track 'Mothcaste' is a heavy musical masterpiece with stunning melodies and intriguing lyrics. The drums rat-a-tat with intent the whole way through giving the track a feel of de-nastified death metal. 'Tar Pit' has an alternating slow-fast speed thing going on. One moment the track is as thrashy as an 80's Metallica track, then a batch of 'Somewhere In Time' Iron Maiden rhythms come into play and the song slows into a chugging monster. It's all bloody characterful and very individual... and that's a good thing.
The title track sounds like it's going to break into a medieval jig at the start, but soon settles into a machine-gun-drum led battle metal track. It's likeable but anonymous. 'Fragmented Glory' has a truck load more fabulous drumming throughout. The body of the song is a touch self indulgent - it rattles on with way too many lyrics and not enough actual music - but the rhythm interludes are as cool as a really efficient refrigerator.
'The Neo Mortician' tells a mesmerising story - in fact it's the only song where the tale really drags you in and holds your undivided attention. The way the song builds as it goes through is fantastic. It's got a real rock-opera feel like the works from Queensrÿche's Operation Mindcrime album and it's comfortably the best track on the album. 'The Little Witch Of Madagascar' has a catchy chorus and plenty of skilled musicianship. It's a mysterious title for a song - it'll be interesting to find out if it relates to any person in particular!
Ageless Decay is a nice album, perhaps with a couple of minor issues. Firstly, as stupid as it sounds, there is way too much singing crammed into the songs. There are guitar solos and drum breaks, but the majority of every track is line after line of storytelling. The lyrics go on and on and, although Mike DiMeo has an exquisite voice, use of the phrase 'less is more' would have been appreciated. Secondly, there is a touch too much repetition throughout the record. There are plenty of moments of genius, but it's more clever and creative than catchy and cool.
Check out... The Axel Rudi Pell-ness of it all.
Track List:
01. Mothcaste
02.Hibernal Thaw
03. Tar Pit
04. Omnipaedia
05. Xerophyte
06. Nubia Awakes
07. Ageless Decay
08. Eocene Dawning
09. Fragmented Glory
10. The Neo-Mortician
11. The Little Witch Of Madagascar
12. Idolatry Dislocated
Label: Escape Music
Artist's websites: MySpace
