Gandalf - Rock Hell (2001)

Finland's Gandalf were on to a winning formula with the 1998 debut album Deadly Fairytales, but it did not stir up enough buzz to really matter, so it became clear that some further tweaking would be necessary for them to shove past the fringe and take their part of the exploding Finnish melodic death scene being dominated by Children of Bodom, Kalmah and others. Thus, the band decided to get a little edgier than the debut, without really changing up the style, and Rock Hell was born. The lyrics had become edgier, the vocals a dash more malicious, and as the name and logo of the album title would hint, there is an increased influence of the pure hard rock within the compositions.

Still, it's hardly pure 'rock' music, and in fact seems like a half-breed of In Flames/Night in Gales using both rasped, Kreator-like vocals and some clean back-ups. The riffing is just as melodic as found on Deadly Fairytales, but if anything there are more visceral, pummeling breaks in songs like "Dead Man's Hand". The musical proficiency is about the same level, but at least they try some more dynamic approaches to the songwriting, whereas the debut was very much a flat plain in its intentions. There's just a nick more emotion on parade here, and that helps Rock Hell surpass the debut on most levels, if only by an inch or two on the cock & balls comparison ruler.

The deeper one ventures into Rock Hell, the more surprises and delights one will find. "Human Value Zero" thrives off a killer, simple melodic hook during the vocal verses, while "Geysir" seems like a 70s hard rock act trying their hand at melodic death, with dire but catchy guitar melodies and soothing clean vocals. "Live to Suffer" is highly atmospheric and rocky despite its very simple riffs, and Jari's thick rasping truly interacts with the subtle ambient line hanging just below the melody. But despite the rock injection, you've still got a track in the depths like a "Nightderanger" which is for the most part straight thrash until the bridge, then transforming into some sweet leads. "One More for the Dead" is like In Flames with a pinch of hard/groove metal seasoning like Down or Cathedral, and "The Dragon" swells with some 80s horror synthesizer lines before it becomes an emotional melodeath rager. If you're seeking something even more mellow, "Morning Sun" is quite a good rocker not unlike Taneli Jarva's band The Black League.

I admit to having quite some fun with this record, and was very excited that the band had not gone extinct after the debut, though they would disband the year after this released, moving on to form The Scourger or partake in other bands like Lullacry and Korpiklaani. While I liked Deadly Fairytales, this stands out just enough to be the superior of their efforts, even though it shucks a little of the pure melodeath feel of that effort to incorporate the band's love of hard, bluesy rock & roll. There's simply an increase of passion and fire here that will have the heads banging harder and the whiskey bottles drained all the faster, and its an adequate go-to record if you want something to rage out to without any need to listen twice or more within a certain time frame. Worth checking out if you like Sweden's Hearse, Finns The Black League, or perhaps even the later, driving Gothic rock sounds of Greece's Nightfall.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10] (always there hanging around)

Gandalf - Deadly Fairytales (1998)

Come, now, people. Would Gandalf the Grey truly approve of this band's abandonment of a baby doll? Yet there it lies, alone and most likely abused, its owner dead in a ditch, or worse, having simply forgotten the poor toy on the cover of the Gandalf Wicked World debut. I remember first hearing this band and being fairly excited at the time that they'd scored this deal with Earache, for their brand of melodic death metal gone hard/Gothic rock was somewhat different for that label roster and the band seemed catchy enough to take off. They had produced a number of demos before getting the notice, gradually transforming from a stock Swedish death derivative to a band partially reminiscent of Sentenced, their copycats Cryhavoc and Taneli's later band The Black League, but spring loaded with oodles of lazy melodies that complement the basic chords and beats, and a fairly effective vocal delivery which will likely please fans of fellow Finns like Children of Bodom.

Deadly Fairytales sadly did not spark a lot of interest in the band, despite the Wicked World label's initiative to press a crop of new sounds on the late 90s CD buying populace, but its not a stretch to realize why, as the band do not exactly craft material that burns into the gray matter. The compositions are largely elegant, vicious but reined in with their steady rocking rhythms, and perhaps the band's unwillingness towards anything more extreme was counterproductive during the time Children of Bodom and a whole wave of melodic Finnish bands had arrived with frenetic albums loaded with shredding, keyboards and boundless energy. That said, they've got such great production standards and consistency here that fans into the Gothic metal crop from that part of the world (Charon, Sentenced, Entwine, etc) who don't necessarily mind the harsher black metal-tinged vocals would probably dig this.

This is one formulaic fucking band, and their songs consist of primarily mid paced, plump but predictable chord patterns constantly graced with the melodies of sadness and inspiration while Jari Hurskainen barks across the top. It's difficult not to bang your head along to "The Cradle" or "Marionette", but these are more of the diet soda variety than your loaded, sugary main course pop. The band does re-institute some of their more vicious death metal roots for tracks "Dark Memories" and some melodic death/thrashing in "Stronger Than Hell", and these are arguably some of the better tracks here, so perhaps this band would have benefited from a higher pace. Then again, when the band dials back the beat even more, as on the brooding, melancholic "Fade Away" or the cautionary ballad-gone-bludgeon "Eternal Fire", they also seem well absorbed into their natural element. Thus, Deadly Fairytales is a more dynamic effort than one might first suspect from the opening track combination, but not by much.

Shredding is kept to a minimum here. Instead, the guitarists focus on simpler leads that suit the song for the few seconds they co-exist, and disappear back into the chords. You're not going to be super impressed with Gandalf's musicianship, because that's not really what they were about. This is an attempt to tone the melodic death genre into a cruising rock mode, which more or less succeeds, though it is in no way strong enough to seek out unless you happen to find it on the cheap. The lyrics are fair, nothing ventured and nothing gained in that department, fairly generic inspiration tripe, but the vocals and riffs are strong enough that you could get absorbed to them if you crave this kind of vicious but flowing, melodic style. This is also the more 'metal' of their two records, if that makes any sense (I hope it would by now).

Verdict: Win [7/10] (feed us with your contempt)