THE DEVIL'S HALL OF FAME

As you're most likely aware some albums just grab you and won't let go the minute you hear them and become instant favorites and of course I own scores of such albums.

The trouble I find with this, is that not all truly great albums grab you right away and that many, many albums have been put on the shelf or even storage after not being appreciated after one or two plays. This happens when you have hundreds of CDs, as I have but I'm sure, I'm not the only one that does this. I've read in reviews where other members have gone back and checked an album they remember having after their curiosity had been peeked by a positive review by someone else.

Because of this, I try to go over my semi discarded CDs periodically and give another REASONABLE shot and low and behold I learn to love a few of 'em. I call these CDs my LTL (learn to love) CDs and The Devil's Hall of Fame is one of them, other such CDs I have reviewed to date are Train of Thought by Dream Theater and And then There was Silence by Blind Guardian

Beyond Twilight is a Danish prog rock/metal band with a most unusual style. For lack of an accepted term, I'm going to call their music Progressive, Symphonic Chaos. That's right, The Devil's Hall of Fame's music is kind of an organized musical chaos with irregular beats, some disharmonics and syncopated interruptions. It is both pleasant and unpleasant to listen to but when you realize that this is a concept album, wherein the subject has hacked into his own mind, the chaos becomes more understood and the ambivalence fades away.

When acceptance takes the place of ambivalence this album becomes a truly magnificent creation and through it all is one of the greatest vocal performances I've ever had the pleasure to experience. I say experience because The Devil's Hall of Fame is truly an experience. The singer is Jorn Lande, who has sung with Y. Malmsteen, ARK, Millenium, and Nikolo Kotzev. He is no doubt one of the most amazing, distinctive vocalists around. His voice is rich, spanning an extraordinary range, able to go from singing very calm and smoothly to a very gritty and aggressive, which fits The Devil's Hall of Fame to a tee.

In some ways The Devil's Hall of Fame reminds me of Yes, sans Jon Anderson and I honestly wonder if Yes could have even been even greater with a Jorn Lande. That's not a knock on Anderson but it would truly be interesting to hear Lande's vocals with Yes.

Anyone who considers themselves a Progressive Rock/Metal connoisseur really needs to check Beyond Twilight out.

The question is,can only one man with his voice raise a band onto the top?And the answer is yes.Jorn Lande has made his miracle again.Of course the music of the band is very good,of course the other members are talented but there are points in this disc where Lande simply takes over 100% .Surely not a gem,but a very good and powerful disc for lovers of theatrical progressive metal.If KING DIAMOND is the best actor in the heavy metal scene,then Jorn Lande is the leader of the vocalists in the prog metal scene.3.5 stars...

"The Devils Hall Of Fame" is the debut full-length studio album by Danish progressive/power metal act Beyond Twilight. The album was released through Massacre Records in July 2001. Beyond Twilight was born out of the ashes of keyboard player and main composer Finn Zierler´s former band Twilight. Twilight released a couple of album in the 90s before changing their name to Beyond Twilight. The albums were titled "Eye for An Eye (1994)" and "The Edge (1999)" and the band played power metal with some progressive elements.

The music on "The Devils Hall Of Fame" is keyboard driven progressive metal/power metal (not the fast double bass drum Euro power metal kind though). Although the most dominant instruments are keyboards this is not softer styled progressive metal. The music still features lots of heavy guitars and pretty raw vocals by lead singer Jorn Lande (Mastermind, ARK... among others). The music is a bit generic to my ears though, and even though there are loads of great keyboard parts and a few but great guitar solos, and strong vocals throughout, the compositions are basically traditional heavy metal/power metal with only a few progressive elements. Traditional heavy metal/power metal soaked in keyboards is a style of music that needs to be something really special to win me over and "The Devils Hall Of Fame" is a bit too standard for that to happen.

The musicianship are excellent and keyboard player Finn Zierler really needs to be mentioned for his outstanding skills and inventive playing. In addition to that he is a clever composer too even though I could have wished for a few more adventurous song structures. The sound production is professional and for the most part well sounding, but if I have to mention a minor issue, it would be that the guitars are placed too low in the mix.

"The Devils Hall Of Fame" is overall a pretty strong progressive/power metal album and deserves a 3.5 star (70%) rating. It´s recommended to fans of song oriented keyboard driven progressive/power metal with memorable melodies. My minor issues with the album is probably not something that´ll disturb the listening experience for fans of the style.

This is Denmark's BEYOND TWILIGHT's debut released in 2002. So far they've released three studio albums and each has had a different lead vocalist.This one features Jorne Lande who has sung with Norway's ARK among others. I'm not a fan of his Coverdale-like vocals unfortunately but I admit the man can sure sing. I have to agree with UMUR that the music here is pretty generic and safe. It might be because it's a concept album as the focus seems to be on the lyrics more than the music. It's not very dynamic at all instrumentally.

The highlight for me are the opening words where this guy is on the computer trying to get into some program and he's coversing with the computer. Anyway you'd have to hear it to appreciate it. The music then takes over and vocals arrive 2 minutes in on this opening track called "Hellfire". Some male choir-like vocals 6 minutes in followed by a guitar solo. "Godless And Wicked" opens with synths as drums and vocals join in quickly. Synths are back leading the way before 3 minutes then the vocals return.

"Shadowland" is dark and heavy but slower paced with vocals. Surprisingly it turns into a ballad-like section 3 minutes in and these contrasts continue. "The Devil's Waltz" is kind of eerie then the piano and bass take over. Guitar joins in as drums pound. I like it. "Crying" reminds me of a WHITESNAKE tune. Not a fan although I like the heavy rhythm 4 1/2 minutes in. "The Devil's Hall Of Fame" has a great intro then it settles some when the vocals arrive. Still heavy though. The vocals 5 1/2 minutes in sound like they're out of an opera. "Closing The Circle" opens with spoken words then synths wash in with piano. Very mellow. "Perfect Dark" is again laid back with vocals. It's fuller before 2 minutes as drums come in. Male choir-like vocals 3 minutes in.

3 stars is all I can muster for this one. Cool cover art though.