{"id":20024,"date":"2012-05-14T18:44:59","date_gmt":"2012-05-14T23:44:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=20024"},"modified":"2013-02-05T16:03:49","modified_gmt":"2013-02-05T21:03:49","slug":"empires-of-eden-channeling-the-infinite","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2012\/empires-of-eden-channeling-the-infinite\/","title":{"rendered":"Empires of Eden | Channeling the Infinite<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Justin Gaines<\/span>
\nStaff Writer —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"Former Dungeon guitarist Stu Marshall is back with another in his series of Empires of Eden projects. The latest album, Empires of Eden\u2019s third release, is titled Channeling the Infinite<\/em>, and once again it features an impressive array of guest vocalists. The singers lending their voices to Channeling the Infinite are Udo Dirkschneider (UDO, ex-Accept), Rob Rock (Impelliteri, Driver), Steve Grimmett (ex-Grim Reaper), Mike Dimeo (Creation\u2019s End, ex-Riot), Sean Peck (Cage), Ronny Munroe (Metal Church), Alessandro Del Vecchio (Edge of Forever), Carlos Zema (Outworld), Danny Cecati (Eyefear), Louie Gorgievski (Crimsonfire) and Vo Simpson (Darker Half).<\/p>\n

Channeling the Infinite<\/em> seems a bit less melodic and a lot more focused on traditional heavy metal power than the previous Empires of Eden release (2010\u2019s Reborn in Fire<\/em>). That makes perfect sense when you\u2019ve classic metal vocalists like Udo Dirkschneider, Sean Peck and Steve Grimmett at your disposal. Marshall seems to have adjusted his songwriting to fit these singers, and he\u2019s definitely brought the level of shredding up a notch (or ten). There are still some melodic moments here. \u201cThis Time\u201d with Steve Grimmett and \u201cLions for Lambs\u201d with Alessandro Del Vecchio have a melodic rock vibe, and stand out next to the pure blistering metal of songs like \u201cCyborg\u201d (the album\u2019s low point) and the title track. It goes back and forth like that throughout the album, and in the end it doesn\u2019t feel like the album has a cohesive theme or overall style. Guitar wizardry and killer vocal performances (and there are some good ones here) aside, Channeling the Infinite<\/em> just doesn\u2019t wow the way Reborn in Fire<\/em> did.<\/p>\n

The album closes with a pair of alternate versions added as bonus tracks. The first is an \u201call star\u201d version of \u201cHammer Down\u201d that features Udo Dirkschneider, Rob Rock, Sean Peck, Carlos Zema, Vo Simpson and Ronny Munroe, and the second is a version of \u201cBorn a King\u201d sung by Sean Peck. The bonus version of \u201cHammer Down\u201d is the album\u2019s best moment, as it brings together several great singers on a song that\u2019s just 100% metal.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re already an Empires of Eden fan, by all means pick up a copy of Channeling the Infinite<\/em>. It\u2019s not perfect, but there\u2019s still more than enough to enjoy. If you\u2019re new to the band, Reborn in Fire<\/em> is probably a better starting point. Channeling the Infinite<\/em> is still an album you\u2019ll want to hear if you\u2019re a fan of any (or all) of the vocalists involved.<\/p>\n

Genre: Melodic Metal, Power Metal<\/p>\n

Band:
\nStu Marshall (g) (b)
\nJason Manewell (d)<\/p>\n

Track Listing:
\n1.\tCry Out (featuring Rob Rock)
\n2.\tHammer Down (featuring Udo Dirkschneider)
\n3.\tThis Time (featuring Steve Grimmett)
\n4.\tChanneling the Infinite (featuring Sean Peck)
\n5.\tLions for Lambs (featuring Alessandro Del Vecchio)
\n6.\tCyborg (featuring Carlos Zema)
\n7.\tWorld on Fire (featuring Louie Gorgievski)
\n8.\tYour Eyes (featuring Mike Dimeo)
\n9.\tBorn a King (featuring Danny Cecati)
\n10.\tAs Flames Scorch the Ground (featuring Vo Simpson)
\n11.\tWhite Wings (featuring Ronny Munroe)
\n12.\tHammer Down All Star Version
\n13.\tBorn a King (featuring Sean Peck)<\/p>\n

Label: Music Buy Mail<\/p>\n

Website: www.empiresofeden.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 7.5\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Justin Gaines Staff Writer — Former Dungeon guitarist Stu Marshall is back with another in his series of Empires of Eden projects. The latest album, Empires of Eden\u2019s third release, is titled Channeling the […]<\/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":[3439,5237,1097,490],"class_list":{"0":"post-20024","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-arcrvws2012","7":"tag-melodic-metal","8":"tag-music-buy-mail","9":"tag-power-metal","10":"tag-udo-dirkschneider"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20024","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=20024"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20024\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}