Last Updated on 03:33 PM by Giorgos Tsekas
Genre: AOR/Hard Rock
Country: Great Britain
Label: Steamhammer
Year: 2016
Review about Magnum’s new release. A review. A REVIEW. Now that’s a misplaced phrase. One cannot possibly write a review about the Gods. I’m too little to write loads of crap like “the melody of the guitar lines blah blah blah …”, “the vocal interpretations are blah blah blah …”. Yes, whether you like it or not there are some bands that are beyond critique. We owe them for releasing new material, not the other way round. You need nothing more than that moment at 3:48 of ‘Sacred Blood, “Divine” Lies’ where the piano and the low vocals of God Bob enter. That’s where the story ends. You realize that whatever they’ll play for you is brilliantly beyond reach. Magnum is just an addiction. In the beginning you take a small taste, they look good. Over time, you start to like them. Then years pass one after another, you’ re stuck. Decades are passing by, and you curse everything on the earth for not being able to enjoy them playing live. And finally, from the time you’d answer that “they’re a good band, but they’re not my favourite” when asked, you come to point where you understand that Magnum at one of the most important bands that were ever formed.
Let’s move now to their latest record. Right after the title track, we’ve got ‘Crazy Old Mothers’ when you come to think about “how is it possible for a band to throw so many riffs in just one track?” or “How many more hymns will they compose?”. Slow hymns such as that is something completely easy for them. The alternations of emotions, the strength of the melodies… ‘Gypsy Queen’ and with 3-4 notes on the keyboards and Celtic melodies on vocals and we are ready to travel. Because that’s what their songs are: musical paintings, inner self. ‘Princess In Rags’ (the cult) and ‘Your Dreams Will Not Die’, are beautiful. ‘Afraid Of The Night’, ‘Forgotten Conversasions’, ‘Quiet Rhapsody’, are amazing, with tons of conventional speed transitions and during their “quieter” moments you are look for the next bottle. ‘Twelve Men Wise And Just’ and you’d better avoid driving because of its galloping style will add 20 more miles per hour to your driving. That’s for sure. The record closes with ‘Do Not Cry Baby’, which is enough to destroy our homes, because eventually Magnum are sadists. They induce pain with their tunes and I bet that they are sitting in a corner, laughing while seeing you crushed.
Here you are. I did not write a review. It cannot be done. Those who could, understood. It’s Magnum. You take the record and hide the sharp objects of the room somewhere safe. We’re finished.
5/6