Brave – Monuments
Release Date: 2008
Highlights: The entire album
There’s nothing I love more than pleasantly stumbling upon an amazing band. I was recently giving the latest While Heaven Wept album a listen and while I enjoyed it, I didn’t love it. As I read more about the band, I discovered that the members of WHW are all involved with other bands. The husband and wife team of Michelle (keyboards/vocals) and Trevor Schrotz (drums) are also part of the Virginia based band Brave and after streaming one listen to their 2008 release “Monuments” I knew I had unearthed a fine hidden treasure. Buried somewhere in the over saturated music world, much like Symphony X, it is so great to hear such an awesome progressive metal band residing right here in the US and on my coast of all things.
“Monuments” is an absolutely beautiful collection of songs that I’m going to call “accessible progressive metal.” What I mean by this is that the songs have all of the elements that make a great progressive metal band yet are melodic, to the point and easy to grasp. Michelle Schrotz’s crystal clear vocals possess an almost Celtic quality while the band as a whole does an amazing job melding both their tradional nordic/Celtic side with the progressive and intricate yet accessible Metal side. Just one listen to songs like “Hold On” and “Hero” had me feeling almost as if I was hearing the two best Lacuna Coil songs never made. “Sooner or Later” rose up with a hearty Dio influence while “Forgiveness”, “Sleepless” and “Without You” seem to pull from the melodic side of bands like Dokken and Skid Row. This is not a stab by any means at the band as what drew me into them was the versatility of their influences. Brave’s influences are so versatile yet they manage to deliver each song with their own style creating a very cohesive and fluid listening experience. Instead of picking just one influence and basing their sound off of it, Brave has taken all of their influences and has managed to combine them allowing them forge an identity that is all their own.
Nothing about “Monuments” is overplayed, self indulgent or pompous. Michelle Schrotz sings each song with class and grace which surprisingly lends itself to the melodically heavy music that the band puts forth. Each member shows the ability to step into the light and shine as a talented and very capable player yet they choose to go the route of letting the song do the talking. Lyrically the songs on “Monuments’ can only be described as romantic fantasies that engage and draw you in. They are so well written and they just make you want to listen to each and every word. Schrotz’s ability to articulate her words makes the experience all that better as you can really get into the song and what it is she is singing about. “Monuments” is one of the most perfect Heavy Metal albums I have heard in a long time and I’m just bummed that it took me so long to find them. I guess it’s true what they say: Better late than never.
For more on Brave, check out http://bravemusic.com/
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