Heavy/Power Metal
Rebellion passed their acid test back in 2002 with their debut release Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Anybody able to translate this kind of sophisticated theme into the world of heavy metal in such a supreme manner deserves the experts’ respect. Which leads us to the following question: is it really possible to surpass such an opulent opus? Answer: possibly not in terms of subject matter; the musical side, however, is a different story, as the second Rebellion recording Born A Rebel goes to prove. The eleven new tracks live up to the musicians’ professed standard of “tough-as-nails metal that shoots straight from the hip” (quote Uwe Lulis) and come again equipped with a haunting sound. “Counting the last Grave Digger albums on which I collaborated and our own debut, Shakespeare’s Macbeth, I’d worked on four to five concept albums in succession. This time we felt more like a straightforward record that jumps right at you and isn’t too demanding in terms of lyrical content but concentrates on everyday experiences. I think we’ve achieved this goal one hundred per cent.”
“We”, that’s next to guitarist, songwriter and producer Lulis himself, his former Grave Digger brother-in-arms Tomi Göttlich (bass), ex-Warhead guitarist Björn Eilen, drummer Randy Black (Annihilator, among others) and frontman Michael Seifert of Black Destiny fame – a tight unit of like-minded metal musicians who, as a band, have developed into a known quantity on the German rock music scene over the last fifteen months.
Even before the arrival of their first release, Rebellion had an offer to tour with Running Wild. Reactions to the band’s dynamic metal were unanimously positive during the tour, despite the fact that Shakespeare’s Macbeth wasn’t even available in the shops at the time. “The audience’s enthusiasm increased night after night, and when we played major events like the Wacken Open Air or the Z7 festival in Pratteln, we found that the audience sang along to our numbers line by line.” The debut sold extremely well, particularly in Germany and Spain, and the international music press followed suit with rave reviews.
A few weeks after their last live appearance in summer 2002, the musicians set about compiling ideas for their second œvre. Mind you: “The basic idea was to go about our songwriting in a more spontaneous style to catch the magic of the creative moment. You often find that the initial demo tapes sound fresher and more energetic than the final studio cut. That’s an effect we wanted to avoid on Born A Rebel, and that’s why we purposely left composing half of the material until the production was already under way.”
The result speaks for itself. The eleven numbers on the new album live off their own momentum and directness. There are piles of Lulis’ typical guitar riffs, the way only he knows how to play them. The current material turns out to be thoroughbred power metal that sounds even rawer and catchier than on Shakespeare’s Macbeth. As far as Lulis is concerned, Born A Rebel is “… a departure from Grave Digger’s style the way I helped to coin it, it’s more melodic, direct and always independent.” These traits are complemented by the multi-layered lyrics that refuse to succumb to a uniform concept. ‘Dragon Fly’ is a kind of Viking saga, ‘Through The Fire’ is a critical deliberation on the subject of religious sects. The track ‘Adrenalin’ expressly recommends heavy metal as a stimulant instead of drugs. “Why kick-start your brain artificially if you can achieve the same effect in a natural way?” Lulis wonders, preferring to let his guitar speak instead of potentially damaging substances. The title track takes a similar stance. “’Born A Rebel’ is about that feeling of freedom that you experience on a bike, those moments of happiness when you get a chance to break away from everyday life and see a bit of the world.” These emotions aren’t only expressed by the material on Born A Rebel but also by the sleeve artwork courtesy of Belgian designer, Eric Philippe (Rhapsody, among others). To cut a long story short: all the pieces of the puzzle fit together on this album.
That Born A Rebel practically demands to be performed live on stage goes without saying. After last year’s successful shows, Rebellion are ready to face their fans again. “We’ll definitely turn up at a number of festivals as of June,” Lulis promises. “If Born A Rebel sells as well as the debut, a regular tour is bound to follow in autumn. This time around we also want to play abroad.” It’s impossible to ignore: these rebels are on their marks …
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Слева направо:
Gerd Lücking - ударные
Tomi Göttlich - бас
Michael Seifert - вокал
Simone Wenzel - лид гитара
Uwe Lulis - ритм гитара
Синглы, EP:
2006 - Miklagard (Single)
2009 - The Clans Are Marching (EP)
 
Полноформатные альбомы:
2002 - A Tragedy In Steel
2003 - Born A Rebel
2005 - Sagas Of Iceland - The History Of The Vikings - Volume I
2007 - Miklagard - The History Of The Vikings - Volume II
2009 - Arise - From Ragnarok To Ginnungagap - The History Of The Vikings - Volume III
  
 
MySpace
2002 - A Tragedy In Steel
2003 - Born A Rebel
Link by White Zombie
2005 - Sagas Of Iceland - The History Of The Vikings - Volume I
Link by Oskulum
2007 - Miklagard - The History Of The Vikings - Volume II
ifolder part 1
ifolder part 2
2009 - Arise: From Ginnungagap To Ragnarok - History Of The Vikings, Vol. III
ifolder part 1
ifolder part 2
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