While Rage has started becoming more of an effective Power Metal act with Heavy Metal still floating around in the guitars, and shedding themselves from their Speed Metal sound, Strings to a Web really does wind up ushering in an era of a new Rage by maturing the new sound in a way that compliments the band nicely. While this may anger many fans of the band, it has given Rage a chance to take a fresh breath in the metal world and start impressing the listener all over again with a whole new sound instead of simply trying to outdo the last album. Sadly, this leads to a good, yet often repetitive effort with Strings to a Web.
For the most part, Strings to a Web retains the more upbeat songwriting style that has been on the past few albums, especially their previous release Carved in Stone, but in a sense it's more refined to make the songs catchy, well composed Power Metal instead of just somewhat generic tracks that you would anticipate would make their way on the radio station. This isn't to say some of these types of songs don't exist. "Hellgirl" is a more upbeat Hard Rock/Heavy Metal tinged song that feels a little more mainstream then anything, but it's done very well and has a chorus that is simply infectious with matching guitar solo that, unfortunately does leave the recording a little hollow as it plays, but the bass does a good job of trying to pick up the slack. There's also "The Edge of Darkness" which really sets the tone for much of this album thanks to it's more approachabl (not over-the-top) Power Metal sound. This is about the soun you can expect for everything up to, and including, "The Beggar's Last Dime", since after that track things take a turn for the better.
The dark and brooding tracks on this release is where Rage really shines through. "Empty Hollow" has a more of an operatic feeling with the way the music is played and the vocals are handled, especially during the chorus, giving the album a sudden shift away from happier, upbeat material and diving head first into a darker, more creative universe for a few tracks. After Two instrumental tracks follow "Empty Hollow", and each are particularly different. The first, "Strings to a Web", sticks to the creative, operatic feeling of "Empty Hollow", while "Fatal Grace" is a might lighter, happily ever after type of instrumental that ushers in "Connected", which seems to start off as if "Strings to a Web" had never ended thanks to similar drumming and takes the band more into an 80's Hair Metal environment just minus the analog production and heavy echo effects utilized during that style of music's ballads, which goes directly into the "Empty Hollow (Reprise)" to close out this little conceptual piece of heaven. "Saviour of the Dead" is another darker track, but it lacks the overall feel and impact of the small "Empty Hollow" centerpiece and just feels a bit tacked on before things pick back up with "Hellgirl" and continue where "The Beggar's Last Dime" left off.
All in all, Strings to a Web is an enjoyable album, though only about five tracks really show anything worth while on this release. Outside the five tracks that comprise the conceptual "Empty Hollow" section, the songs can often become rather repetitive in the presentation. There's some various tracks that have additional vocal styles mixed in, but for the most part the album is upbeat with a mid-tempo pace filled with matching clean singing that creates a very relaxed atmosphere. There's a good amount of replay value to the album, but Rage could do with a little more tweaking of this new sound to give it a little more edge and variety to the music.
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