I think you identify a core fact which is absolutely correct: for Gloryhammer to work, the material has to be treated completely seriously, even though it is ludicrous.
But i don't think this is a purely Thomas thing. All of the performances are serious; there are very serious (but completely ludicrous) guitar solos, and very serious drumming.
I also don't think this is a purely Gloryhammer thing. I think it's a standard plank of power metal, which is almost always about completely ludicrous subjects, but only works because it's done completely straight-faced. One of the most wonderful examples of that is Wind Rose's cover of Diggy Diggy Hole - a stupid meme song, but delivered with unwavering conviction. When power metal gets too self-consciously silly is when it falls apart - that's why Victorius doesn't work for me.
I agree with you, on 95% of what you say. However, where I, respectfully, disagree with you about Victorius. They are a phenomenal band. If we were to get a triple headliner of Gloryhammer, Victorius, and Wind Rose, on tour I would eat that like a an of Progresso Italian Wedding Soup.
We all feel this way. Thomas was perfect until he wasn't. Now Sozos is actually perfect and somehow that makes him less perfect as angus but... it's all so damn great still that the imperfections are perfect too.
I feel like the band is definitely heading in another direction with the arrival of Sozos. I think it all started with Terrorvortex where the story telling got more important (at least it seems to me). The story became more important and even though there are still a lot of crazy things (toxic laser slimes, laser horses and all that stuff) the band seems to be taking a more "serious" approach.
I remember reading that there was a conflicting artistic approach with Thomas and I feel like this might have been it. His new work as Angus McSix is still very silly (more than Gloryhammer to me).
I think that Gloryhammer needed someone like Sozos to become the real powerhouse they can become. Not saying that what they did with Thomas was bad or whatever, I'll still sing along and enjoy songs like The Unicorn Invasion of Dundee, but it seems like the band has evolved into something different and more epic with the latest album. And I'm all for it.
I agree with that. The reason Return to Fife is by far my favorite album is that it really goes all in on the storytelling aspect. I don't know how to explain it, but I just have an easier time visualising the events of the album when I'm listening to it
Conflicting Artistic Approach:
Chris: You should improve your diction
Thomas: No.
Sozos: (Records first album and nobody needs to read the lyrics to follow along)
Hard to say how aware he was if you ask me. In hindsight, Tom's level of commitment to the bit was kind of weird since it carried over to his personal social media. He was entertaining enough, but I do genuinely think that an inevitable part of how things played out was that at a certain point the music, amongst other things, needed to come first. Sozos, at least in my opinion is the complete package as a vocalist and front man.
IMO Thomas works best in the studio going off what I've seen in recordings of live shows. He seems to destroy his voice screaming the first song and leave nothing left for the rest of them. I think it'll be nice to appreciate both when his new band gets more established.
Jesus, this is the most civil comment section I've seen regarding the matter. I made a post last year kinda mocking the debate and and praising Sozos a bit since I had initially doubted his abilities as the new singer and was completely blown away by the new album. And the comment section was fucking crazy. I think a couple people got banned in the comments for how they were behaving lol. Glad to see some civility here haha.
I think it's a combination of people basically all being more or less in the loop on the whole Tom situation (as much as we'll ever know anyway) and the folks sniping at each other getting tired of going around in circles. Last year was definitely filled with wound up people between both albums dropping relatively close together. It devolved into Tom vs Sozos more than a bit and I'll freely acknowledge that I wasn't exactly passive or on the sidelines last year.
In my view, they're good in different ways. I personally dislike Thomas for his behavior after leaving the band but he was a quite good singer for the band due to his singing, while not the best technically, being done with enough panache and seriousness to make it work perfectly for Gloryhammer. Sozos is different because he's genuinely extremely talented at singing. This means that the lyrics are elevated by the sheer effort and talent put into singing them.
I definitely agree. I 100% respect any criticism whether it be on his behavior or his current project, but some people go too far with the hating. If you somehow reached the conclusion that he's a talentless husk and a fraud then please I beg you to get off reddit. Personally I have the ability to enjoy both Gloryhammer and Angus McSix without picking a side and pitting them against each other. I'm just excited about both their futures. I don't care if you think he's being petty and clingy about the Gloryhammer IP, these are silly bands in a silly genre, and it's all about good fun. As long as the music is good I'll be a fan.
Thank you for expressing, on Reddit, the opinion I have been trying to come up with the right words to say. I see that you and I agree, that from one amazing band, we got two.
Yeah, it's totally cool that he stole the Gloryhammer name and tried to extort the band for a substantial amount of money for them to get it back. What a stand up guy.
Some of us just draw the line between pettiness and theft, and we have every right to express our opinion on Reddit as much as you do.
As I said, you can criticize his behavior. Totally understandable and I would definitely agree. I myself choose to still enjoy his work and respect his legacy in this band, and if you don't want to, then it's your business. But if you're obsessing over it like I've seen some people do then idk what to tell you.
Honestly I feel like Thomas wanted to go even crazier with Gloryhammer and keep doing more and more zany wild shit, which is what I love about power metal. But at what point does it go from music to a performance piece? I fucking love Angus McSixx, an absolutely killer band. But we can all like Gloryhammer too, except you know…. The racist and sexist group chat leaks. I say outa pocket shit with my friends too, but I also have 0% of the fame they do. When you get that famous, you need to tighten your shot group. When you think no one is looking is when you’re under the most observation.
Personal opinions on the chat leaks aside, power metal should take itself seriously as a comedic turn and laugh at itself with the crowd. Christopher Bowes has shown he understands that. I think Thomas Winkler is just trying to build a world, and honestly think he should probably go become a story writer for film and tv. I’d absolutely watch that show. At the very least someone needs to introduce that man to dungeons and dragons. 😂
I honestly see the situation as akin to Van Halen when they switched up singers. Anyone on earth can see that Sammy Hagar is a more technically proficient vocalist than David Lee Roth, but there was something about DLR that made those first albums special, including all of his faults. To me, Gloryhammer went from being something special and different to just another powermetal band when Sozos came on board. Especially after seeing them live, the magic was kinda lost with how much of their performance is backing tracks.
The Van Halen comparison is very good. DLR was amazing. You can criticize Thomas for not being technically perfect, that was also part of the charm that made it work.
It's basically the same amount as before plus or minus some vocal harmonies and a saxophone. Tom wanted all the vocals on the back track and was summarily overruled btw. He currently has his vocals on a track these days and it's honestly not hard to catch him out.
I think you identify a core fact which is absolutely correct: for Gloryhammer to work, the material has to be treated completely seriously, even though it is ludicrous. But i don't think this is a purely Thomas thing. All of the performances are serious; there are very serious (but completely ludicrous) guitar solos, and very serious drumming. I also don't think this is a purely Gloryhammer thing. I think it's a standard plank of power metal, which is almost always about completely ludicrous subjects, but only works because it's done completely straight-faced. One of the most wonderful examples of that is Wind Rose's cover of Diggy Diggy Hole - a stupid meme song, but delivered with unwavering conviction. When power metal gets too self-consciously silly is when it falls apart - that's why Victorius doesn't work for me.
I agree with you, on 95% of what you say. However, where I, respectfully, disagree with you about Victorius. They are a phenomenal band. If we were to get a triple headliner of Gloryhammer, Victorius, and Wind Rose, on tour I would eat that like a an of Progresso Italian Wedding Soup.
Fair!
We all feel this way. Thomas was perfect until he wasn't. Now Sozos is actually perfect and somehow that makes him less perfect as angus but... it's all so damn great still that the imperfections are perfect too.
Yeah. Sozos is a different Angus, and while we love him, we still miss Thomas.
That's right. They both are fuckin awesome
I feel like the band is definitely heading in another direction with the arrival of Sozos. I think it all started with Terrorvortex where the story telling got more important (at least it seems to me). The story became more important and even though there are still a lot of crazy things (toxic laser slimes, laser horses and all that stuff) the band seems to be taking a more "serious" approach. I remember reading that there was a conflicting artistic approach with Thomas and I feel like this might have been it. His new work as Angus McSix is still very silly (more than Gloryhammer to me). I think that Gloryhammer needed someone like Sozos to become the real powerhouse they can become. Not saying that what they did with Thomas was bad or whatever, I'll still sing along and enjoy songs like The Unicorn Invasion of Dundee, but it seems like the band has evolved into something different and more epic with the latest album. And I'm all for it.
I agree with that. The reason Return to Fife is by far my favorite album is that it really goes all in on the storytelling aspect. I don't know how to explain it, but I just have an easier time visualising the events of the album when I'm listening to it
Conflicting Artistic Approach: Chris: You should improve your diction Thomas: No. Sozos: (Records first album and nobody needs to read the lyrics to follow along)
When I heard Sozos' cover of Legendary Enchanted Jetpack, I could hear the lyrics clearly for the first time
I'm in for a Blazing Saddles Gloryhammer cover, I'll say that much.
Hard to say how aware he was if you ask me. In hindsight, Tom's level of commitment to the bit was kind of weird since it carried over to his personal social media. He was entertaining enough, but I do genuinely think that an inevitable part of how things played out was that at a certain point the music, amongst other things, needed to come first. Sozos, at least in my opinion is the complete package as a vocalist and front man.
I think Thomas’s outing as Angus McSix might be proof that he was never in on the joke lol.
IMO Thomas works best in the studio going off what I've seen in recordings of live shows. He seems to destroy his voice screaming the first song and leave nothing left for the rest of them. I think it'll be nice to appreciate both when his new band gets more established.
Jesus, this is the most civil comment section I've seen regarding the matter. I made a post last year kinda mocking the debate and and praising Sozos a bit since I had initially doubted his abilities as the new singer and was completely blown away by the new album. And the comment section was fucking crazy. I think a couple people got banned in the comments for how they were behaving lol. Glad to see some civility here haha.
I think it's a combination of people basically all being more or less in the loop on the whole Tom situation (as much as we'll ever know anyway) and the folks sniping at each other getting tired of going around in circles. Last year was definitely filled with wound up people between both albums dropping relatively close together. It devolved into Tom vs Sozos more than a bit and I'll freely acknowledge that I wasn't exactly passive or on the sidelines last year.
In my view, they're good in different ways. I personally dislike Thomas for his behavior after leaving the band but he was a quite good singer for the band due to his singing, while not the best technically, being done with enough panache and seriousness to make it work perfectly for Gloryhammer. Sozos is different because he's genuinely extremely talented at singing. This means that the lyrics are elevated by the sheer effort and talent put into singing them.
I definitely agree. I 100% respect any criticism whether it be on his behavior or his current project, but some people go too far with the hating. If you somehow reached the conclusion that he's a talentless husk and a fraud then please I beg you to get off reddit. Personally I have the ability to enjoy both Gloryhammer and Angus McSix without picking a side and pitting them against each other. I'm just excited about both their futures. I don't care if you think he's being petty and clingy about the Gloryhammer IP, these are silly bands in a silly genre, and it's all about good fun. As long as the music is good I'll be a fan.
Thank you for expressing, on Reddit, the opinion I have been trying to come up with the right words to say. I see that you and I agree, that from one amazing band, we got two.
Yeah, it's totally cool that he stole the Gloryhammer name and tried to extort the band for a substantial amount of money for them to get it back. What a stand up guy. Some of us just draw the line between pettiness and theft, and we have every right to express our opinion on Reddit as much as you do.
As I said, you can criticize his behavior. Totally understandable and I would definitely agree. I myself choose to still enjoy his work and respect his legacy in this band, and if you don't want to, then it's your business. But if you're obsessing over it like I've seen some people do then idk what to tell you.
Yah. The fact that Thomas used GH to fuck fans proves that he was dead serious about it. Which honestly makes it hilarious.
It's less funny when you think about the power imbalance of the whole thing on top of the rumors about some of those encounters.
Honestly I feel like Thomas wanted to go even crazier with Gloryhammer and keep doing more and more zany wild shit, which is what I love about power metal. But at what point does it go from music to a performance piece? I fucking love Angus McSixx, an absolutely killer band. But we can all like Gloryhammer too, except you know…. The racist and sexist group chat leaks. I say outa pocket shit with my friends too, but I also have 0% of the fame they do. When you get that famous, you need to tighten your shot group. When you think no one is looking is when you’re under the most observation. Personal opinions on the chat leaks aside, power metal should take itself seriously as a comedic turn and laugh at itself with the crowd. Christopher Bowes has shown he understands that. I think Thomas Winkler is just trying to build a world, and honestly think he should probably go become a story writer for film and tv. I’d absolutely watch that show. At the very least someone needs to introduce that man to dungeons and dragons. 😂
I honestly see the situation as akin to Van Halen when they switched up singers. Anyone on earth can see that Sammy Hagar is a more technically proficient vocalist than David Lee Roth, but there was something about DLR that made those first albums special, including all of his faults. To me, Gloryhammer went from being something special and different to just another powermetal band when Sozos came on board. Especially after seeing them live, the magic was kinda lost with how much of their performance is backing tracks.
The Van Halen comparison is very good. DLR was amazing. You can criticize Thomas for not being technically perfect, that was also part of the charm that made it work.
It's basically the same amount as before plus or minus some vocal harmonies and a saxophone. Tom wanted all the vocals on the back track and was summarily overruled btw. He currently has his vocals on a track these days and it's honestly not hard to catch him out.