Godspeed On The Devil's Thunder

British theatrical heavy/extreme metal. Lots of gothy interludes/intros and such but this all makes sense considering this is a concept record about the notorius Baron Gilles Rais. Pretty strong release for what this is. The story telling bits work well. Guest narration by Doug Bradley (“Pinhead” from Hellraiser).

(((((1))))) Narration intro with a cinematic orchestral backing. A good start.
((((2)))) Fast blackish metal and a good vocal performance.
((3)) Goth-metal cheese but has some good guitar work. Mostly comes off like a retarded King Diamond mixed with Nightwish. Kack!
((((4)))) More cinematic, speedy blackish/extreme metal with a bunch of nice kinda thrashy bits & male/female chorus. Mostly good.
(((5))) Doug Bradley + “spooky choirs & orchestra” bits.
(((6))) Fast with some good riffs here & there. A bit too much “drama” in Dani’s vocals though.
(((7))) Narration, de Rais conjuring Satan, leads into orchestral then fast blazing metal syncopated with gothic keyboards. OK but rarely rises above the mire.
(((8))) Operatic vocals, then “everything but the kitchen sink” effect. Eventually becomes a more straight ahead uh, “operatic thrash metal”?
((((9)))) Nice & sick memoir of the deeds of Mr. de Rais. Fast tempo, breaking up into several gothic passages and back again. Epic length.
(((10))) Another long gothy intro then fast melodic kinda BM tempo. Good & tight riffing and build up.
Although the cell phone like keyboards are annoying.
(((11))) Mid-tempo with several shifts into vocal tone. Not bad but drags on way too long.
((((12)))) Cinematic intro, fast thrashy BM/DM styled blasting to mid-paced parts.
((((13)))) Little outro bit with more Doug Bradley & grandiose keyboard/organ sound.