Utopia (Axxis album)

Last updated
Utopia
Utopia (Axxis album) cover art.jpg
Studio album by
Axxis
Released2009
Recorded2009
StudioSOUNDWORXX Studio, Germany
Genre Power metal, Electronic rock
Length49:30
Label AFM Records
Producer B.Weiss, H.Oellers
Axxis chronology
Doom of Destiny
(2007)		Utopia
(2009)		reDISCOver(ed)
(2012)

Utopia, released in 2009, is the twelfth full-length album by the German power metal band Axxis. [1]

Album collection of recorded music, words, sounds

An album is a collection of audio recordings issued as a collection on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium. Albums of recorded music were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78-rpm records collected in a bound book resembling a photograph album; this format evolved after 1948 into single vinyl LP records played at ​33 1⁄3 rpm. Vinyl LPs are still issued, though album sales in the 21st-century have mostly focused on CD and MP3 formats. The audio cassette was a format widely used alongside vinyl from the 1970s into the first decade of the 2000s.

Power metal is a subgenre of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional heavy metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. Generally, power metal is characterized by a faster, lighter, and more uplifting sound, in contrast with the heaviness and dissonance prevalent for example in extreme metal. Power metal bands usually have anthem-like songs with fantasy-based subject matter and strong choruses, thus creating a theatrical, dramatic and emotionally "powerful" sound. The term was first used in the middle of the 1980s and refers to two different but related styles: the first pioneered and largely practiced in North America with a harder sound similar to speed metal, and a later more widespread and popular style based in Europe, South America and East Asia with a lighter, more melodic sound and frequent use of keyboards.

Axxis German heavy metal band

Axxis is a German heavy metal band that was founded in 1988. Their debut album, Kingdom of the Night, became the best-selling debut album ever by a hard rock band in Germany in 1989.

Contents

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Kerrang! Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [2]

"Twenty years in the business is a long time for any band, especially for the one that awkwardly straddles two genres. Axxis play soft focus power metal that edges on the progressive rock, the massive use of keyboards and Bernhardt Weiss' clean, high-pitched tones being particularly redolent of the latter," writes Kerrang! . "Utopia may well be the clearest and most accessible distillation of what Axxis do," opines reviewer Steve Beebee, giving the album 3 out of 5Ks rating. [2]

Progressive rock is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States throughout the mid- to late 1960s. Initially termed "progressive pop", the style was an outgrowth of psychedelic bands who abandoned standard pop traditions in favour of instrumentation and compositional techniques more frequently associated with jazz, folk, or classical music. Additional elements contributed to its "progressive" label: lyrics were more poetic, technology was harnessed for new sounds, music approached the condition of "art", and the studio, rather than the stage, became the focus of musical activity, which often involved creating music for listening rather than dancing.

<i>Kerrang!</i> British magazine about rock and metal music

Kerrang! is a British weekly magazine devoted to hard rock and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent. It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one-off supplement in the Sounds newspaper. Named after the onomatopoeic word that derives from the sound made when playing a power chord on a distorted electric guitar, Kerrang! was initially devoted to the new wave of British heavy metal and the rise of hard rock acts. In the early 2000s it became the best-selling British music weekly.

Track listing

  1. "Journey to Utopia" – 1:39
  2. "Utopia" – 3:59
  3. "Last Man on Earth" – 4:51
  4. "Fass Mich An" – 5:10
  5. "Sarah Wanna Die" – 5:54
  6. "My Father's Eyes" – 4:40
  7. "The Monsters Crawl" – 4:44
  8. "Eyes of a Child" – 4:32
  9. "Heavy Rain" – 4:32
  10. "For You I Will Die" – 5:30
  11. "Underworld" – 3:56

Bonus Tracks

  1. "Taste My Blood"
  2. "20 Years Anniversary Song"

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References

  1. ↑ "Axxis Discography". Axxis. Archived from the original on 15 August 2013. Retrieved 12 November 2010.
  2. 1 2 Beebee, Steve. Kerrang! #1278, September 12, 2009. Album reviews. "Dragon-fancying Germans chalk up a second decade in metal". p. 51


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