Judicator - The Majesty Of Decay - review
Judicator - The Majesty Of Decay - review
Tracklist
01. Euphoric Parasitism02. The Majesty Of Decay
03. From The Belly Of The Whale
04. Daughter Of Swords
05. Ursa Minor
06. Ursa Major
07. The High Priestess
08. The Black Elk
09. Judgment
10. Metamorphosis
A review by
AndyMetalFreak November 28, 2022
Judicator may be a U.S. power metal band by the way of nationality, but their original influences aren't exactly that straightforward. European powerhouse Blind Guardian is believed to have been the band's first major influence, which is made evidently clear from the sound of their early records right through to this very release. The majority of lyrics are set around similar fantasy themes to that of Blind Guardian, and along with the epic song structures and melodies, that have contained a hint of Helloween throughout their discography. It's clear that Judicator's intentions are heavily leaning towards the style and influence of 80's European power metal, maybe even more so than traditional U.S. power metal.
Now hopefully you have a gist of what this band is about, but how does The Majesty Of Decay fare with the rest of Judicator's discography? Well, it continues the progress from Judicator's previous work to some degree, although the album does take a bit to get going, I have to admit. The first two tracks don't exactly go at a pulsating tempo, with the slow opening acoustic passage on the first track being particularly noticeable, and despite some decent guitar work on these first two songs, there's not much to really write home about. However, once you hit the third track, "From The Belly Of The Whale'', you will notice things start to go a little more interestingly; not only does the album increase in tempo at that point, there is also a notable element of thrash too, with the grooves and rhythm seemingly giving off a Megadeth sort of vibe. The next track, "Daughter Of Swords'' follows suit, with its heavy catchy riffs from the start, and memorable catchy chorus.
From there, each track keeps up the momentum, with memorable choruses from the clean harmonised vocals. The guitarwork in general is pretty decent, especially the solos; the riffs, however, aren't particularly that memorable, and lack aggression at certain times. However, the album finishes with what is in no doubt its standout song, "Metamorphosis"; a track with a running time just shy of ten minutes, this contains some classic instrumentation, including a very impressive guitar solo, and a fantastic saxophone solo too.
Although there's quite a lot going on, the layering between the instrumentation and symphonics works very well; there's a much more clean and refined approach in the production, which allows all of these elements to work well together, but unfortunately this sacrifices the meatier, heavier, and more aggressive tone in the process.
Now coming from me, if you want to hear some quality standard modern-day power metal, perhaps an album that equally contains elements from both the U.S. and European power metal without coming across as ridiculously over-the-top cheesy, then The Majesty Of Decay may well be this year's perfect choice for you. Maybe this is not their best release, but it's an enjoyable one at least.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 8 |
| Songwriting: | 7 |
| Originality: | 7 |
| Production: | 8 |
Written on 28.11.2022 by
Written on 28.11.2022 by
An honest review that you don't necessarily have to agree with. Comments
Comments:
7
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I like this one more than you do, I suppose. I feel they are finally moving towards their own sound and away from being another Blind Guardian clone. As much as I respect Alicia Cordisco and enjoy all her other projects, Judicator sound more interesting now without her. I love how they have taken a more proggy path and that they are trying new things. This album is their best by far, in my opinion.
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Good reviev man
---- I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens. Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die"  I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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Posts: 6663 Written by nikarg on 29.11.2022 at 12:06 From what I've heard, this is one of their album’s I'm most impressed by, although I haven't listened to their whole discography (as of yet). The album took a bit of getting into for me I admit, but I really like it now, this is a good route their taking.
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Posts: 8656 Written by nikarg on 29.11.2022 at 12:06 There's still major BG vibes on this with the vocal harmonizing and vocal melody choices, and I wonder how much that influenced my overriding opinions of the previous two that I've heard, but this does feel like a step away from that band stylistically. They still sound pretty darn decent though, even if slightly lightweight
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