-Thrashy stuff: Like.
Me too. Very much so. I wish they would do a whole song or songs in the thrash style.
-Big, happy, cheesey power-metally stuff: Eh. Some of it is cool. Some of it just doesn't do it for me, and this is a big part of their sound.
Do you feel like certain songs are more in this style or that the power metal sound is so spread throughout their sound that it makes it all a little questionable? Granted, I don't listen to a lot of power metal, actually, so I'm no expert in the genre, but the only tracks that to me come off as straight power metal are "The Master Storyteller," "Hide in the Fairytale," and "Light Of The World."
-Singing: Overall, I like. There are times when the singer seems like he is outright channeling Michael Sweet, which I simultaneously like and dislike. Other times, he sounds completely original.
Never really listened to Stryper or his solo stuff, so I can't really say if this is good or bad. I think Matt Smith is an amazing vocalist, though.
-Vocal arrangements: These leave a lot to be desired. It bothers me when there are too many lyrics for the sonic space in a given song. There's just too much thrown in, and there's no way a singer could pull off those vocals live because there's nowhere to breathe.
I've never noticed this at all. My bigger concern seeing them in concert would be that it's impossible to do all the harmonies and choirs Matt Smith so painstakingly records on the album live.
-Lyrics: Overall, pretty good. But there are times when I feel they fall into the trap of a lot of bands that go for a religious message, which is they can be very cliche. There are a lot of deep, profound messages to be found in Christianity that can be explored without throwing around shallow cliches that do not represent those much deeper ideas. Dunno, maybe I'm being too critical here, but this is something that annoys me a bit.
Granted, I haven't sat down and listened with the lyrics in front of me, but I think overall these are pretty good lyrics that go beyond what you typically hear on, for instance, Christian radio. "Light Of The World" is the only song that strikes me as being close to cliche. "As The World Bleeds" is actually quite profound, lyrically speaking. It gives a very vivid picture of how humans decide to play by their own rules, mess up the world, and then somehow blame God for how f'd up everything is.
-Overall song arrangements: There is some good stuff. They strike a nice balance between straightforward and complex. By that, I mean that the songs generally are much more than simple verse-chorus-verse-chorus-solo-chorus, but they don't just meander aimlessly all over the place either.
Yes! I especially like how "I Am" has the Irish interlude and then follows it up with the slightly DT-ish instrumental passage. Likewise, the title track is just a riff factory, and I love how many different ideas are incorporated into it.
BTW - does Samsara listen to/like Theocracy? He hasn't commented in this thread in a long time, but I assume he had some interest if he was asking your opinion of the album.
Topic: The Theocracy Thread (Read 44547 times)
