Dangerdog Music Reviews :: © 1999 - 2024 Craig S Hartranft :: All Rights Reserved
No part of this this website, including design and music reviews,
may be reproduced in any form or by any means without
the prior written permission of the publisher.
- New Music Reviews
- |
- Archives
- |
- News
- |
- Submissions
- |
- About
- |
- |
New Music Reviews, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Progressive Rock, Progressive Metal, AOR, Alternative Rock, Alternative Metal
Recent Reviews
November 2024
- Voodoo Circle: Hail To The King
- Lionville: Supernatural
- Starchaser: Into The Great Unkown
- Empires Of Eden: Guardians Of Time
- Lonerider: Down In The Dust
- Seventh Crystal: Entity
- Neal Morse & The Resonance: No Hill For A Climber
- Beardfish: Songs For Beating Hearts
- Impellitteri: War Machine
- Brothers Of Metal: Fimbulvinter
October 2024
- Casandra's Crossing: Garden Of Earthly Delights
- DGM: Endless
- Daytona: Garder la Flamme
- Fate: Reconnect 'N Ignite
- Frost*: Life In The Wires
- Aries Descendant: From The Ashes Of Deceit
- Fans Of The Dark: Video
- Radioactive: Reset
- House Of Lords: Full Tilt Overdrive
- Cleanbreak: We Are The Fire
September 2024
- Sinner's Blood: Dark Horizons
- Serious Black: Rise Of Akhenaton
- Eclipse: Megalomanium II
- SteelCity: Reverence
- Hydra: ReHydrated
- Heartwind: III
- Gabrielle De Val and the Dragonlords: Tiger
- Find Me: Nightbound
- The Nail: The Nail
- Timeless Fairytale: A Story To Tell
- Stryper: When We Were Kings
- Phil Mogg: Moggs Motel
- Pure Reason Revolution: Coming Up To Consciousness
- Jordan Rudess: Permission To Fly
August 2024
- Siege Perilous: Creation's Call EP
- Paralydium: Universe Calls
- Mike Tramp: Songs Of White Lion Vol. II
- Bite The Bullet: Looking For Paradise
- All For Metal: Gods Of Metal (Year Of The Dragon)
- Hammerfall: Avenge The Fallen
- Jim Peterik & World Stage: Roots & Shoots Vol. 2
Halcyon Way: IndoctriNation
Halcyon Way: IndoctriNation
Progressive Power/Thrash Metal
4.0/5.0
Nightmare Records
Website
Facebook
Twitter
MySpace
by Craig Hartranft, 10.10.2011
Following on the heels of their significant and entertaining Building the Towers (2010), Atlanta's Halcyon Way returns with their third release IndoctriNation. To be clear, IndoctriNation contains only five new songs. The album is made complete by a cover of Stand Up, the Sammy Hagar/Steel Dragon song made popular in the film Rock Star, a radio edit of The Age of Betrayal from Building the Towers, and a remix of The System (from the same album), an experiment in industrial metal.
Above: Halcyon Way shows that black is the new black.
To the former, the five new songs, expect Halcyon Way's expert mixture of thrash and power metal in a prog context with bold melodies and efficient vocal harmonies. For Black Wings, the intro and outro, offer a intense mixture of melodic death power metal with growling vocals. The death vocals return for accent on the title track. Most songs move at a generous clip invigorated by an uncanny amount of melodic riffage, another Halcyon Way trademark. Of course, Jon Bodan rips off some fine solos throughout but, for a reason I can't put my finger on, he seems sedated or understated, on some tracks. Yet, listening to him on Our Finest Hour makes this observation a marginal one. With little doubt, the new songs are best thing about IndoctriNation.
Regarding the latter material, I'm not sure what to make of the Stand Up cover. Somehow it doesn't have that gritty swagger of the film version. For The Age of Betraya:l just get out your copy of Building the Towers (2010), and enjoy. The industrial remix of The System was actually appealing, and clever, even for this non-fan of the genre. Ultimately, I would have preferred three more new songs to round out this album.
Halcyon Way's Indoctrination is solid follow up to previous material, presenting their engaging mixture of melodic power and thrash metal in a prog context. But, it would have been better with several more original songs, rather than filler.
Tweet
Note: All Amazon advertising in this review first benefits the artist, then Craig Hartranft also receives a residual. Click, and thanks for your support.
In Short
Halcyon Way's Indoctrination is solid follow up to previous material, presenting their engaging mixture of melodic power and thrash metal in a prog context. But, it would have been better with several more original songs, rather than filler.
Find A Review
Alphabetical Index
New & Notable
eviewing my archives, I was pleased to find that I have had the privilege to review every Lionville since their self-titled debut in 2011. Formed by Stefano Lionetti, a songwriter, singer and guitarist based in ... [ Read More ]