POWERSLAVE

"Powerslave" is a straightforward heavy metal album of the mid 80's. The drums and the bass sound a bit like on "Piece of mind", but the electric guitars are slightly more fuzzy and less incisive. I find all the tracks sound about the same, so that this is a very disciplined and conservative album. The tracks are slightly progressive, and Dickinson's voice is good although he adopts a repetitive complaining & angry tone, maybe a bit more than usual. To be honest, "Powerslave" is not an exciting album: maybe it is because the guitar sound & effects and the drum patterns could be more varied. Harris' bass contrasts with the monochrome rhythmic guitar riffs: unfortunately, those monolithic guitar riffs often create like a wall to the very elaborated bass, so that the bass seems trapped inside this sound. One can notice Harris' omnipresent typical spring-like noise produced on his bass strings. The best bit is the mellow one on the "Powerslave" track: a very pleasant combination of melodic guitar solo and catchy bass; unfortunately, it does not last long enough. The last track, "Rime of the ancient mariner", is a progressive metal epic song lasting 13 minutes: it is the best one on this record, being very catchy and addictive; it has a mellow bit with a good frightening atmosphere and a morbid narration: it is very appreciated since it temporarily interrupts the monolithic rhythmic guitar riffs. This album is very appreciated among the metal community.

Rating: 4.5 stars