Speak of the Dead

Speak of the Dead sets a suite built on classical orchestration alongside direct heavy-metal songs. Peavy Wagner’s hard-edged voice and Victor Smolski’s precise guitar keep the force of the riffs even in the grandest passages, uniting ambitious scale with the band’s native aggression. The opening epic “Mortituri Te Salutant” and the orchestra-led suite that follows unfold with grandeur and drama, while songs such as “Kill Your Gods,” “Full Moon” and “Speak of the Dead” let RAGE’s linear, aggressive appeal burst out directly. Two different directions are clearly contrasted within one record. Despite the boldness of the structure, what runs through it all is a heavy beat and a strong will toward melody, and the melodic force in songs like “Turn My World Around” and “Be with Me or Be Gone” should not be missed. Balancing an experimental spirit with its core aggression, it is a wide-ranging record, very much in RAGE’s character.