There was a time in the late 80’s that I thought that these guys would have been mentioned in the same breath as Metallica, but alas, Metallica have climbed to the top of the social conscious for better or for worse, and Rage . . . well, I’m willing to bet that the smallest percentage of our readers even know who these guys are. Since the 90’s, I couldn’t mention their name without people confusing them with Rage Against the Machine, even though the music isn’t even in the same realm of reality. So, what happened to Rage? Why didn’t they become the household name that they so seemingly deserved to be? Eh, I could climb on top of my soapbox and wax on and off about the injustices of the music industry and the fickleness of the music fans, but I’m just too tired to fight today. It is what it is, and Rage has spent the past two decades toiling in their unobtrusive fashion throughout the European metal scene. I tried to keep tabs on them through the 90’s, lost their scent and ultimately forgot about the band except for those random days when I went on my Rage benders, spinning Perfect Man and Secrets in a Weird World to the point that I was whipped into a heavy metal frenzy. Then I saw it. In 2002, I found a copy of Unity at the record store.
On one hand, I was excited that the band had dug itself back to the glaring light of the sun for one more metallic display of technical wizardry for my benefit only. On the other hand, I was a little nervous that it wouldn’t be the same Rage that I had spent the previous ten years cheering in my own private arena. Spoiler alert: I’m writing about it, right? The album is pure, unadulterated German technical power metal without all of the dreamy imagery of storming castles or battling an evil warlord on blood soaked fields. Rage play their brand of metal unlike any band that I’ve heard, incorporating elements of thrash, composing great four and five minute ditties that are musically dynamic making them feel a lot longer than they actually are, and pumping the choruses with so much melody that the songs remain memorable. Imagine the musical proficiency of a band like Rush, mix that with the melodic songwriting abilities of a band like, say Journey, for instance; and then add the aggressive distorted bombast of a band like Metallica. Combine all of this with some sleek production and you have the progressive power metal leanings of Rage.
Rage is as complete a band as they come, particularly when hoisting them up against their metal peers. The rhythm section of Peavy on bass and vocals and Mike Terrana on drums is an unnatural force of thunder and groove, but Unity is made most dynamic by the guitar virtuosity of Victor Smolski. In fact, this entire album is a clinic on six string mastery, as this Russian string bender not only provides excellent moments of shred, but provides beautiful passages of melody, and then stomps effect pedals in a way that would make Tom Morello embarrassed. Case in point, fast forward the disc to the eighth track, “Living My Dream.” The tune kicks off with Smolski grinding a palm muted riff filled with squeals and nuance, throws in some alternate picking, letting his left hand flow across the neck of the guitar, and then showers us with sparks of dexterous brilliance at the solo. Though, the solo isn’t just a lesson in fret hand dexterity, it’s also a lesson in pedal board footwork. The effects that this guy whips out are mind blowing, but maybe even more amazing is how he melds one sound into the next without it sounding like overkill. “Living My Dream” also highlights the bands stylistic range by hitting the song hard and heavy, full of aggression and paranoid tension, then they open the song up to huge and sweeping melodies, almost to the point of operatic. In essence, you’ll be banging your head, waving the horns, and singing like a bird . . . all at the same time!
For more on the heavy side of the coin, “Down” is about as good as it gets. Grinding and up tempo, reminiscent of Painkiller-era Priest, the song opens with more palm muted guitar riffery and flurried of double bass drums pitter-pattering their way in the background. Peavy’s vocals, always a mixed bag, are uber-melodic through the verses before working hard to get guttural for the choruses. Smolski’s guitar work at the solo is another head spinner, mixing in great combinations of scales and bar chords, hitting the effects board just enough to shake things up, injecting serious flavor in the smorgasbord of sound. Much of the same can be said about songs like “Insanity” and album opener, “All I Want.” Infectious melodies make it hard to forget the songs and it’s pretty much guaranteed that you’ll be humming these songs during all of the quiet moments in the day.
“Dies Irae” flirts with epicness, opening with a choir chanting away in Latin while the band is dropping huge bursts of distortion in the background. As the choir fades out, the music encompasses all that is power metal; heavy grooves, up tempo drum beats, melodic vocals, awesome guitar riffs, and sweeping solos that will have you involuntarily playing air guitar in your office cubicle. This one features another stunning solo from Smolski. I love how he makes it sound so effortless, so fluid, so stream of conscious as his fingers do their lightning dance across the fret board. And even though, at times during the solo, it sounds like mere mindless noodling, on greater inspection of the work, it becomes readily apparent that this guy has more chops than your local butcher. Fucking incendiary approach to his playing, and now that I’ve come back to re-listen to Unity, I’m inspired to track down more of Rage’s later works. And speaking of Unity, the title track is a compositional game of chess, Risk, and Stratego . . . all wrapped into a seven plus minute instrumental epic, incorporating elements of jazz-fusion and classical within the realms of all that is heavy. Truly masterful!
I will probably always be a Rage fan because, unlike a lot of metalheads out there, I get them. At least, I think I get them. Peavy and company haven’t really changed their formula all that much. The level of musicianship has definitely increased since those earlier albums that I mentioned, and to listen to Unity after listening to something like Perfect Man or Execution Guaranteed is the equivalent of using a telephone in 1980 to using a cell phone today. It’s technically advanced, but basically does the same thing. In the case of Rage, their sound has become more full, more focused, more defined, and in some ways, easy to use. Fans of guitar driven music, especially metal, will love this album. How Victor Smolski isn’t mentioned in the same breath as all of the great virtuoso’s of the instrument is beyond me. Admittedly, getting used to Peavy’s voice will take some getting used to, but if you’re a Rush fan and it took you some time to get past Geddy’s voice, then this should be a cake walk. Alrighty . . . I’m off to track down Rage’s post-Unity material . . . I’ll catch up with y’all later. - Pope JTE
Buy here: Unity
Buy here: Unity
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