{"id":19526,"date":"2012-03-31T06:26:19","date_gmt":"2012-03-31T11:26:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=19526"},"modified":"2013-01-29T09:59:36","modified_gmt":"2013-01-29T14:59:36","slug":"brendan-smalls-galaktikon-brendan-smalls-galaktikon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2012\/brendan-smalls-galaktikon-brendan-smalls-galaktikon\/","title":{"rendered":"Brendan Small\u2019s Galaktikon | Brendan Small\u2019s Galaktikon<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Trevor Portz<\/span>
\nStaff Writer —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"Brendan Small is a talented guy. Come on, he\u2019s managed to successfully blend extreme metal and comedy on the surprisingly popular Metalocalypse. Plus, he spearheaded one of the most underrated animated shows of the last 20 years (Home Movies). On top of all that, he\u2019s a wicked guitar player (and Berklee grad). Sometimes it seems like he is truly the master of all he attempts. Unfortunately, on his most recent musical outing\u2014Brendan Small\u2019s Galaktikon<\/em>\u2014he\u2019s proven that not everything he touches turns to gold.<\/p>\n

Before delving into why this album isn\u2019t amazing, let\u2019s talk about what is great about it: the musicianship. Gene Hoglan needs no introduction, and delivers an as-expected top-notch drum performance. Bassist Bryan Beller has worked with such luminaries as Steve Vai and Dweezil Zappa, so it\u2019s no shock that he too shines here. And, as previously noted, Small is a wicked guitar player. From a purely technical standpoint, there\u2019s little to criticize about this album. But technical skills aren\u2019t everything.<\/p>\n

Small noted in an interview that this album is essentially a musical graphic novel, purposefully overblown and silly, but that takes itself too seriously. Sounds like a pretty good idea in theory. In execution? Not so much\u2026<\/p>\n

What\u2019s lacking here is an important combination: great songs and new ideas. The songs are mostly forgettable, and the best moments come off more as \u201cstolen from\u201d than \u201cinfluenced by.\u201d For instance, the Queen-esque layered guitars and melodies in opener \u201cTriton\u201d are so identical to Brian May\u2019s tone and style that one may wonder if they aren\u2019t just sampled from classic Queen tunes. This style-stealing flows throughout the record. There are elements of Satriani, Vai, Grohl, Malmsteen, and a host of others. While Small has mastered the ability to cop the styles of those he loves, he leaves behind the great songwriting that made them great. <\/p>\n

Additionally, the vocals are pretty uninspiring. Small can carry a tune, but doesn\u2019t have the chops to lead an album that\u2019s supposed to be extremely grandiose, Galaktikon<\/em> is advertised to be. To achieve the overt, epic drama this album purports to deliver, someone with the versatility of Devin Townsend or the power of Michael Kiske would need to be brought in. Small is, unfortunately, neither of these.<\/p>\n

While this album is a bit of a disappointment based on Brendan Small\u2019s previous output, it\u2019s unlikely to hurt his career, and it shouldn\u2019t. It was an interesting, albeit failed experiment. Now that it\u2019s out of his system, he can get on to making awesome animated TV and metal that isn\u2019t too clone-y.<\/p>\n

Genre: \tPower-esque Metal<\/p>\n

Band:
\nBrendon Small (v,g)
\nBryan Beller (b)
\nGene Hoglan (d)<\/p>\n

Track Listing:
\n1. Triton
\n2. Prophecy of the Lazer Witch
\n3. Beastblade
\n4. Deathwaltz
\n5. Truth Orb and the Kill Pool
\n6. You Can’t Run Away
\n7. Dangertits
\n8. Arena War of the Immortal Masters
\n9. On My Way<\/p>\n

Label: Williams Street Records<\/p>\n

Website: http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/Brendon-Smalls-Galaktikon<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 4.8\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Trevor Portz Staff Writer — Brendan Small is a talented guy. Come on, he\u2019s managed to successfully blend extreme metal and comedy on the surprisingly popular Metalocalypse. Plus, he spearheaded one of the most […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6772],"tags":[886],"class_list":{"0":"post-19526","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-arcrvws2012","7":"tag-gene-hoglan"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19526"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19526\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}