Mattowarrior's Metal Madness

Power Metal is a hard subgenre to keep fresh nowadays.  Often it either suffer from too many surrendering to modern metal trappings and will subsequently lose or muddle it's identity, (especially in modern times, where there is an often over emphasis on very sterile, overly-quantized production), it can reek of cliches, samey sounding songs, and a general lack of imagination can make it a challenge to keep original.  Mike LePond's Silent Assassins are a newer Power Metal project, with their first album released in 2014, and their new album, "Pawn and Prophecy", released earlier this year. As their press release describes: “Mike LePond's Silent Assassins is pure Classic Metal with lyrics based on Mythology, Literature and History from Symphony X bassist, Mike LePond and friends. Sound has been compared to Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Manowar, Black Sabbath, Blind Guardian, White Wizard. Mike LePond's Silent Assassins, an onslaught ...

Rock Music is known to be in a state of flux nowadays. With declining album sales, and an almost daily article written by music writers proclaiming how Hip Hop has overtaken Rock's mantle as the youth's music, make it seem like it's become a bygone era.  However, looking at ticket sales and the still vibrant attendance of rock concerts, it seems like it never went away. It also can be said that Rock has become a legacy music, much like Jazz.  Jazz festivals still happen, musicians release albums, but it's not on the mainstream radar.  At the same time, it can be said that innovation isn't happening in much of the rock world, not to mention metal world. Bands recycle older styles and are influenced by bands 10, 20, 30, and 40 years old. My own music is no exception. However, this isn't always a bad thing if done well and with a passion that transcends it. Rock has little to do that it hasn't done before, even if novelty sub-genres like Death...