Review by Joshua on June 8, 2004.

Nightwish deserves an award for outstanding improvement. After two mediocre albums, Nightwish have written a masterpiece of operatic, gothic metal.

Operatic, gothic metal. That’s a rather strange descriptor, I suppose, but it’s appropriate. Once boasts eleven songs with one of Finland’s best mezzo-soprano voices — and, judging by Tarja’s performance here, perhaps one of Europe’s greatest voices, also. Nine songs are accompanied by a full symphony orchestra. Nonetheless, this is still a metal album, structures somewhere between classic metal and progressive experimentation. This is obvious from the opening chord: “Dark Chest of Wonders” explodes with an introduction reminiscent of later Halford-era Judas Priest, driven by energetic drums and choppy guitars. Where’s the operatic part, then? How is that gothic, you ask? Well, that follows shortly, using some of the smoothest transitions in progressive metal. Combine Tarja’s incredible ability to harmonize, the Session Orchestra of London, and a seventeen-member choir, then add in metal guitars, and you can probably imagine it.

Okay, maybe you can’t. This is such an improvement over their last two releases that it really must be heard to be acknowledged. This point cannot be stressed enough: Wishmaster and Century Child hardly even compare to Once. Even Oceanborn, though a slightly different style, is now completely outdone. So many flaws have been ironed out here that the result approaches true perfection. The vocals make perfect use of Tarja’s range, rather than squandering two-thirds of it. Marco’s voice is limited to those couple octaves he can reach, rather than stretching it to the point of mangling songs. All the guitars are distinct, rather than drowned with layered synthesizers. In fact, those cheesy synthesizers that cocked up Century Child are gone, replaced with the orchestra, giving songs a smooth and polished sheen. A slide guitar and a native American flute player both make appropriate appearances. The songs are diverse, the material brilliant, and the arrangement so clever that one hardly notices drastic transitions between individual songs. This is melodic experimentation at its pinnacle.

Ah, but that deserves addressing, too. Not all the songs on this album could be considered “metal.” In fact, several aren’t even close, and one or two are operatic ballads. One can hear touches of everything from Therion to Judas Priest, and Savatage to…well, some of this really reminds me of Grieg and Smetana. I’m sure they tried more for Sibelius, but “Kuolema Tekee Taiteilijan” could have come straight from The Mouldau. Now, bearing that in mind, how’s this for juxtaposition: “Wish I Had an Angel” is a dance floor metal track that would make Rammstein or Cubanate horribly jealous. Better yet, unlike every other metal song written with a techno backbeat, pretty much since the dawn of time, Nightwish doesn’t compromise style or structure for sake of pleasing some capricious clubbers. “Planet Hell” and “Romanticide” are the two heaviest songs, and revive the thrash and power influences last displayed on Oceanborn. The lead-in for the latter could have been written by Metallica, if they had some talent left. Then, on the opposite end of the spectrum, the album’s final tracks are a pair of gorgeous operatic ballads. The heart-wrenching, emotional ballad “Kuolema Tekee Taiteilijan” is a stunningly beautiful, operatic gothic song, featuring just Tarja and the orchestra. It even lacks a guitar.

Now, were Nightwish a lesser band, such diverse songwriting might lend this disc an incoherent feel…such as, say, most of the writing on Century Child. Herein lies a shining example of this band’s improvement: the arrangement of songs, start to finish, is a meisterwerk, structured such that transitions never seem too forced or dissonant. Even within songs, ethereal interludes and melodic bridges from the orchestra sound completely natural. Whereas some bands — hello, Opeth — have this unfortunate habit of just throwing songs together, giving all their albums a haphazard feeling, Once can be heard from beginning to end without one flawed transition. Granted, it’s not completely perfect; there are a handful of interludes that, though they’re faded well, are completely pointless and could have just been deleted. However, strange though it sounds, that is the album’s sole weakness.

Well, perhaps it’s one weakness of three. The second is that Tarja’s voice occasionally shows a bit much aspiration. Most people probably won’t notice this, but it’s detectable on “Planet Hell” and “Dead Gardens”. Third, using an orchestra only makes sense if it’s discernible. Here, in many places, the orchestra gets mixed so far in the background that it sounds like it could’ve been a synthesizer. I have no eloquent description for this: That was kind of stupid, people. Another four decibels higher and this would have been perfection.

That’s all, though. Three extremely minor flaws, eclipsed by a multitude of positives: brilliant writing, incredible talent, excellent arrangement, and amazing sound. Nightwish deserves two awards here; one for outstanding improvement, another for creating such an incomparable magnum opus. With brilliant songwriting, polished production, intelligent content, and an astounding collection of musical talent, Once cannot help but be a masterpiece.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 9
Atmosphere: 10
Production: 9
Originality: 10
Overall: 10

Rating: 9.6 out of 10

Review by Rosh on April 1, 2021.

As much as the metal world showers praise upon its most consistent acts, it is also quick to take note of when an artist's work becomes formulaic. Sometimes, though, long-running bands will be hit with a bit of both, especially when they owe their consistent output to a winning songwriting formula, as has been the case with New Jersey's Overkill. Granted, their newer material that returns to old-school thrash with a bit of groove came after a long period of experimentation, but albums like Ironbound, White Devil Armory, and perhaps most of all, The Grinding Wheel, show that Overkill have returned to relevance in the modern metal climate. I have a bit of a personal connection to the latter album from 2017, since it was my formal introduction to Overkill when it came out, but nonetheless, I do feel that it has the strongest tracklist of any Overkill album released since 2010, despite recycling a few riffs and ideas. The Grinding Wheel is a worthy introduction to a thrash institution like these guys and would be highly likely to garner new fans.

Musically, the band is focused on attitude as always, but the groove metal influence is more evident this time, especially in the main riffs of 'Goddamn Trouble' and 'Come Heavy'. Some may criticize the latter songs for trying too hard to give off a "tough guy" or "badass" feel, but Overkill succeed to a greater extent than many thrash metal bands, since their music has always carried that sour NJ attitude, helped by Bobby Blitz's distinctively abrasive vocals. 'Mean, Green, Killing Machine' and 'The Long Road', however, build up to the aggressive side of things with admirable instrumental work, where DD Verni's grinding bass tone earns the album its name. On that point, the culminative title track nails the brooding, oppressive (almost thrash/doom) atmosphere that Overkill have flirted with before on tracks like 'Playing With Spiders/Skullkrusher'. For a longer album with many tracks between 5 and 7 minutes, it was wise to place the brooding and intense title track at the end.

The Grinding Wheel takes full advantage of Bobby's mastery of thrash vocals, with virtually every song having a memorable vocal hook. The disadvantage of this, however, is that the band gets away with a few less than inspired riffs that may sound awesome to a first time listener, but would be something of a letdown for a more involved fan. The drumming, however, does redeem the compositions largely because it hits harder than the drums in a lot of other modern thrash, giving the band infallible momentum. The fills before the verse in the third song, 'Our Finest Hour', for example, keep the intensity built by the first two tracks up and this makes for a better execution of a groove metal inspired breakdown than most could pull off.

Overkill have a formula and they stick to it, in order to make outstanding thrash albums like The Grinding Wheel over 3 and a half decades into their career. Overall, I would consider this to be one of the strongest thrash metal albums released since 2010's, and a good starting point for new fans expecting some kick to their thrash metal.

Rating: 9.1 out of 10

Review by Adam M on November 2, 2017.

Overkill brings a similar form of thrash to the table as on previous releases. The music here is rollicking and captures a groovy vibe very well. It is distinctive of the band’s sound and very honorable to the past. In fact there hasn’t been many changes in recent times to Overkill’s music and one can sense it’s time for something new soon.

This is still a very fun release and the band seems to be thoroughly enjoying their craft. The sense of fun permeates the release and makes it very entertaining to listen to. Though it isn’t entirely original, there is a sense that the band poured their hearts into these songs and it shines through. The songs are very raw sounding and this is due to the band’s no holds barred style. There is still a musicality to the songs that is enhanced by the production of the album. How does the album fit into Overkill’s discography? Well, it is a step below Ironbound, but perhaps equal to their last couple of releases in terms quality. The guitars are punishing, yet makes for a tuneful listen at times. The singing is the typical Bobby Blitz approach that is very raucous, yet enjoyable to listen. Drumming nicely forms the backbone to the songs. The overall sense of the performances is that they’re quite effective and enjoyable. This can be seen from the song 'Mean Green Killing Machine' which features a nice variety of thrash goodness.

There has been a lack of thrash releases recently, so this album fills in the hole nicely for a new release in the genre. Though it doesn’t do anything entirely original, it is fun enough to be a quality entry to the genre. Thrash fans should find something to like immediately with The Grinding Wheel.

Rating: 7.6 out of 10