| Musical Style: Heavy Metal | Produced By: |
| Record Label: Marquee Records | Country Of Origin: Brazil |
| Year Released: 2017 | Artist Website: |
| Tracks: 17 | Rating: 75% |
| Running Time: 70:24 |
New wave of BRITISH heavy metal from BRAZIL. It’s go a certain ring to it, huh? And it works, particularly in light of how Nova Lima based veteran five piece act Dynasty has delivered a sizzling platter of straightforward heavy metal with the summer of 2017 release of its third-full length album, Step By Step. Unlike 2004 full length debut Motus Perpetuus, intrinsic to smooth and polished melodic power metal propensities, Step By Step more closely mirrors sophomore album Warriors Of The King from 2010 with its emphasis on surpassing guitar riffs, trouncing drums and gravely if not gruff at times lead vocals. Dynasty remains a forerunning within Brazilian Christian hard music circles in this regard as one of the few from the region to ‘keep it true’ with a classic metal sound, at least in comparison to countrymen Shining Star (melodic metal), Destra (progressive metal), Sunroad (hard rock), Allos (symphonic metal) and Eterna (melodic power metal).
Main change to report, outside of new members in guitarist Filipe Otávio, bassist André Junior and drummer Tiago Vitek, is the drop in overall grade from the 85% assigned to Warriors Of The King and 75% attributing to Step By Step. Whereas musical direction between the two remains unchanged, I find Step By Step bloated and top heavy with a 17-song track listing that equates to over 70 minutes of music. In addition to the ten Step by Step tracks, you also have seven more as part of the Viginti Annis covers EP, of which details are obscure. Obviously, when you are dealing with an album encompassing such a high volume of material - almost two full-length albums back to back - the potential for turning into a trite listen (not to mention chaff) presents itself and such is the case here.
Another cause for concern is lead vocals in that founding member and front man Nahor Adrade, continuing to bring a raw and coarse lower register style in line with the groups straight on metal leanings, can strain in places resulting in a performance somewhat spotty at times. Upshot is that I do not find the individual Step By Step tracks innate to the same type of catchy vocal melodies that made their Warriors Of The King counterparts better stand out, which feature (at least based upon my experience) the more profound hooks and tighter melodies overall.
Albums first four vocal tracks provide a good indicator of the Dynasty traditional metal bearings (Step By Step opens to a short instrumental piece entitled “Somnum Exterreri Solebat”). First, “Nightmare” comes across rough and tumble in form as mid-paced (and quite burly) riffs in abundance stand alongside Tiago Vitek’s underlining (and quite calescent) timekeeping abilities. A lengthy instrumental stretch features a tasteful bass and lead guitar tradeoff.
“Inside My Heart” maintains the keyed up penchant but at the more upbeat tempo. Polished but pronounced guitars remain the focal point to the mix (the Step By Step production could not be more solid), while low end - noting the pulsing bass work of André Junior - makes a similar projection filled statement. Of note is how resonant backing vocals lend a darkening effect to the scintillating refrain.
“Metal Pulse Radio”, making its initial appearance on the Metal Pulse: A Tribute To Dale Huffman compilation, starts to a bass solo before a literal tsunami of impetus takes over. Slowing tempo but upping aggression, the song proves a bombastic metal slugfest with shouted ‘pulse-pulse-pulse’ backing vocals further uplifting the strapping refrain and another generous instrumental run featuring a bristling guitar solo. Best hook of the earlier material to boot.
Albums title track comes across exultant in capacity, with robotic riff action its entire length, lighter vocal melodies of an accenting form and Vitek and Junior combining to make a brimming low end statement. Lone complaint is that a slight repetition also rises to the surface, as revealed in the predictable (at least to these ears) ‘step-by-step’ chanted refrain. While far from bad, I also find the album inclusive to more interesting material.
Dynasty mellows with “I’ll Be With You”, a commercial but also somewhat nondescript ballad borne by acoustic guitar, orchestration and keyboards. A Spanish guitar solo evenly blends with the composed scene. Whereas the song is nicely done and in no way is it innately flawed, it also does not quite fit the driving Dynasty sound with its emphasis on a raw vocal approach (I can see it translating better if done by someone along the lines of Bloodgood).
“Machado De Guerra”, lone Step By Step tracks with lyrics in Spanish, takes a melodic hard rock heading as opposed to the group’s signature metal, albeit it still packs plenty of muscle. I particularly enjoy the polished feel to the guitar harmonies in addition to how Andrade stretches and reveals a higher end to his delivery (by far his albums best performance). That said, after two songs on the reserved side, I am ready for the album to return to its heavier rocking ways.
“Sad Faces” fulfills such role but also in a melodically driven package. The song starts to several seconds of Middle Eastern flavored guitars, before moving forward to smooth harmonies with keyboards adorning the backdrop, gradually growing and building until thickly woven guitars backed by pounding double bass kick in. A lengthy instrumental stretch rounds out what in my opinion is albums best track.
Unremitting slugger “Bad Politicians” brings to mind late period Saint. What we have is a song that refuses to let up, whether it be the brash guitar mentality, propulsive feel to the vocals and mentality that has impertinent written all over it. No, this might not be the albums catchiest or most melodic but is good nonetheless.
“Evil’s Puppet” ups impetus in maintaining similar musical leanings. With its exuberant mentality, the song almost touches upon speed metal territory, as the group belts it out no-nonsense fashion in yielding its full on youthful angst and energy. Similar to “Bad Politicians”, “Evil’s Puppet” is solid albeit without giving prominence to the most accessible hooks (by no means a bad thing).
Again, not much is known of the Viginti Annis EP except it encompasses two short instrumentals and re-recorded versions to five Dynasty tracks (one each from Motus Perpetuus and Warriors Of The King and three off Step By Step). Revealed in the process is the limitation to the Step By Step digi-pak packaging, which lacks a mini booklet that might provide further information as it pertains to the EP not to mention lyrics, liner notes, credits, etc.
Due to space and time limitations, I am going to skip the two instrumentals and focus on the five vocal cuts. Best two in my opinion are “Goldenland” from Motus Perpetuus and the Warriors Of The King title track, with the former backing from the keyboards to the original and elevating guitars in their place and latter contrastingly being turned into a symphonic metal masterpiece with complementary classical keyboards and choir vocals. These two are solid as it gets album worthy cuts.
Spanish versions to “Inside My Heart ” (“Dentro De Mi Corazon") and “Step By Step” (“Caminar”), on the other hand, do not differ from their Step By Step equivalents. Likewise, “Machado De Guerra”, already in Spanish, ends up re-titled “Hacha De Guerra”, but with repeat listen, I also cannot discern any noticeable differences. While there is nothing wrong with the Spanish tracks, they do not stand out either so perhaps it might have worked better if they had been cut, particularly in light of the albums already abundant track listing.
Sometimes too much is too much and sometimes less is more, and such are my feelings about Step By Step in featuring 17 songs and playing time in excess of 70 minutes. I would have no cause for complaint if Step By Step encompassed just its own 10 tracks, but when you factor in the seven from the Viginti Annis EP, it can be overwhelming for the listener. I cannot help but feel the album would have been easier to digest if it had includes just the “Goldenland” and “Warriors Of The Kings” covers as bonus tracks. Outside of that, the Step By Step material trends towards the above average to very good side of things with a couple skip buttons thrown in. The point being Dynasty has by no means fallen flat on its face, but also does not quite reach the same heights as on Warriors Of The King (in my opinion). Hence, if a fan of NWOBHM or the Brazilian Christian metal scene you would still do yourself a favor by making Step By Step a necessary purchase.
Review by Andrew Rockwell
Track Listing (Step By Step): “Somnum Exterreri Solebat” (:59), “Nightmare” (5:12), “Inside My Heart” (4:17), “Metal Pulse Radio” (4:39), “Step By Step” (5:01), “I'll Be with You” (4:00), “Machado de Guerra” (5:20), “Sad Faces” (4:55), “Bad Politicians” (4:10), “Evil's Puppets” (4:03)
Track Listing (Viginti Annis): “Goldenland's Battle” (1:26), “Goldenland” (5:33), “Dentro de Mi Corazón” (4:18), “Hacha de Guerra” (5:19), “Caminar” (5:01), “Rex Militibus” (:55), “Warriors Of The King” (5:17)
Musicians
Nahor Andrade - Vocals
César Martins - Guitars
Filipe Otávio - Guitars
André Junior – Bass
Tiago Vitek - Drums
