Review: MAJESTY “Rebels”

MAJESTY “Rebels”
Noise Art records

Straight out of Lauda, Baden-Württemberg Germany, keeping banners held high, here we have Majesty – the true defenders of the Metal Law. These heroes sound the battlecry by getting ready to release their latest effort, aptly titled “Rebels’. This is their 8th full-length, if you do not count the 2009 MetalForce release, when Tarek “Metal Son” Maghary changed the band name.

I am a big supporter of their first three titles on Massacre Records. I remember how I felt though, when “HellForces” came out in 2006. It left me wanting more, with too many modern style songs. I paid good money for this too, in order to get the Deluxe Digipak Version. The ‘Own The Crown’ compilation with unreleased material at least kept me satisfied until their 2013 triumphant return for ‘Thunder Rider’, now signed to NoiseArt Records. The anthems of glory, reigned with that classic style I had come to adore; especially, at a time when Manowar were losing their fight to conquer the world. Only NanowaR Of Steel were keeping the flames lit.

That same year, Majesty released “Banners High’ which I also celebrated. Then two more years went by and they impressed me again with ‘Generation Steel’. I remember this CD well, as it was the last CD to work in the used car we had just purchased. To this day the damn CD player is still broken!

So, I was very excited when I heard the first single “Die Like Kings” for ‘Rebels’. I was rejoicing even more when I received a digital promo for review purposes. I burned the music right away with some extra tracks. Kazu from the Japanese band called Marching Out had contacted me on FaceBook about their song called “Rock Will Never Die” featuring guest vocals by Minoru Niihara from Loudness. This is killer Neo-Classical Power Metal worth checking out, for sure.

I also added songs from the Candle 2016 Demo – a great Power Doom act out of Sweden for fans of Candlemass, Avatarium, Black Hole, etc. In addition, I included the hilarious two new Mentors tracks from the split with Nekro Drunkz due out as a 7″ soon on Hell’s Headbangers who did the killer HellWitch – ‘At Rest’, and will soon be putting out the exceptional new Blood Feast – ‘The Future State Of Wicked’ next month and the new Infernäl Mäjesty – ‘No God’, which I can not wait to hear!

Sadly, all this music is much better than the new Majesty, overall. I do not know what happened, but the latest material is simple, boring, retread, crass nonsense. It certainly does not suck, but it does not reign either! I found myself listening to the latest Revocation today, as “Rebels’ has already bored me. I was really wanting to enjoy and savor this, but my heart did not feel the fire. Gone is the sword and sorcery that once brought Metal to the MetalHeads.

“Rebels Of Our Time” has some moments of excitement, but the swearing is offputting. “YOLO HM” is a solid track in the true tradition of Majesty, but is Tarek sure you only live once? “Across The Lightning” is very sloppy and lacking of any mettle. “Across The Lightning” has hints of hits of “HellForces’, but that album has not aged too well. “FireHeart” keeps it true with a tinge of “Hawks Will Fly’ for which they did a video on the previous release.

“Iron Hill” is a solid as steel song, with ambiguous lyrics that do not translate too well. “Heroes In The Night” recalls the song “Heroes” “Running For Salvation” is more just filler. The “Go Fuck Yourself” mentality of “Fightning Till The End” is not the proper way to end this non epic journey either.

I never got to hear the acoustic or orchestral bonus tracks off the Deluxe Digipak Version of ‘Generation Steel’. I do not think that there is going to be any Limited Edition version of “Rebels’ either, nor does there need to be. This is not a metal union, but a mental distraction. It is with true regret that I must inform fans that new Majesty is just not an aria of bravery. There is no need here to hail Majesty. These sons of Metal need to get back to their roots when once they were sincere freedom warriors.

I was truly hoping that Majesty would carry the torch, since Manowar is supposedly calling it quits. Well, at least for that classic Manowar sound, combined with a great sense of humor, one can always rely on NanowaR Of Steel. Check into them!