Oracles are a metal band from Belgium, this is their debut album.
Featuring current and ex-members of Aborted, System Divide and Dimlight, as well as guests from current and ex-members of Black Dahlia Murder, Scar Symmetry, Nevermore and Arch Enemy, this is a release that’s something a little different and backed up by a wealth of experience. Continue reading “Oracles – Miserycorde (Review)”
Dimlight are a symphonic metal band from Greece and this is their third album.
Now this is quite interesting. Here we have a Gothic/symphonic metal band that have some death/black metal elements entwined into the tracks.
This is a modern, updated version of the old, so-called, beauty-and-the-beast vocal approach that twins angelic female cleans with guttural male growls. I always quite liked this approach when it was probably at the height of its popularity Continue reading “Dimlight – The Lost Chapters (Review)”
Elyria are a symphonic metal band from Germany. This is their début album.
With a Classically-trained female vocalist in the ranks, you already know that her singing is going to be first-rate. With her Classical training it’s clear from the off that she really knows what she’s doing. How well this works for you depends on your take on the style and how you feel about these kinds of vocals.
There are some really nice vocal melodies strewn about these tracks, reminding me sometimes of older Kamelot in their delivery, and her voice is very enjoyable.
The music is largely of the Gothic/symphonic variety, but interestingly Elyria spice Continue reading “Elyria – Reflection and Refraction (Review)”
This is the latest EP from Austrian Symphonic Power Metal band Visions of Atlantis.
This is bright and energetic music with a strong Power Metal base that the band build symphonic elements onto. It’s relentlessly upbeat and mercilessly colourful, so much so that it’s hard to dislike a band playing with Continue reading “Visions of Atlantis – Old Routes – New Waters (Review)”
Persona are a Tunisian Metal band and this is their début album.
Featuring 46 minutes of modern Metal, Elusive Reflections comes replete with symphonic and Power Metal accoutrements
My common complaint, echoed in other reviews, with this kind of thing is that sometimes the emphasis can be too much on the singer and not enough on the music, specifically the Metal content; thankfully this is not the case here, (otherwise this would never have made it to the review stage), and the band remember the importance of a good riff and being able to hear the guitars.
With that in mind, the singer is still the star of the show a lot of the time, as is usually the case with Power/Heavy Metal bands. Her voice is easily capable of being both powerful and understated, and she successfully acts as a focal point to the music without distracting from or overpowering it.
Appropriately, the music stands on its own merits and we even get extended sections that are bereft of vocals and also feature guitar solos, both of which are frequently absent in female-fronted Metal.
The symphonic and electronic elements are omnipresent, but are employed in much more of a restrained manner than that of some similar bands. You’d miss them if they were gone, but they’re not the main event.
These are catchy and memorable songs, with more depth and ability than you might give them credit for on first glance. Although it’s definitely of the style it purports to be, within these stylistic limitations there’s more variety here than you sometimes get with this kind of music and each song has its own story.
With a good working knowledge of what constitutes a decent song, the band plough through these 46 minutes with enthusiasm and class.
Recommended.
This is the fifth album from Austrian Symphonic Power Metallers Serenity.
This is a bombastic, larger-than-life album that boasts impressive orchestration and bucketfuls of sugary melodies.
Bands like this can so easily lose track of the Metal component of their sound, but Serenity remember this and include plenty of tasty riffs alongside the symphonic feast that they serve up so well.
The songs are enjoyable and well-written, making the most of the European style. Featuring all kinds of catchy and memorable hooks, melodies and harmonies, it’s an easy-to-like album, as long as you’re a fan of the genre, of course.
The singer has a strong voice that carries the tunes well. I like that he has a personable, charismatic side that is almost at odds with the flashy nature of the music in some ways. It has an earthy quality to it, even when he’s belting things out in true Power Metal style.
Production-wise, an album like this can really suffer without a suitably huge and ostentatious sound, but it’s clear that Serenity have spared no expense in this department. Everything sounds bright and shiny, polished and professional.
I really enjoyed this. In a genre that is well past its saturation point, Codex Atlanticus has enough personality and character to hold interest and is performed well enough to keep it.
Highly recommended.
This is the seventh album from this German Symphonic Power Metal band.
At over 70 minutes in length, there’s a lot of music on this release. Also, featuring guests from such notable bands as Queensrÿche, Twisted Sister, Nightwish, Within Temptation, Unisonic, Edguy and many others, this lives up to the title of Rock Opera with very little effort.
For all the different guest singers, the album has a coherent feel to it, partly due to the cohesive songwriting and partly due to the brains behind the outfit’s voice, which is a near-constant of these tracks in some capacity or other.
The music is bombastic, dramatic, emphatic, symphonic and suitably epic in nature. Unless you just don’t like this kind of thing it’s extremely hard not to enjoy Ghostlights. Great musicianship, high production values, quality singing and well-written operatic Metal…it’s a feast for the ears and proudly espouses the most extravagant side of European Power Metal.
Combined with the effervescent guitars, the orchestral elements are ever-present and a big part of what makes Avantasia so epic. These tracks have such a flair for the theatrical that every song seems to tell a story in bright, colourful pictures, writ large against a suitably ostentatious backdrop. Although the album does have darker elements it’s largely a performance of colour and fantasy, providing the listener with ample opportunity for escapism via the very textured world that the players portray.
Returning back to the guitars; it’s important to remember that this is, ultimately, a Metal album. Thankfully the band remember this too and have included a fair amount of tasty riffs among the orchestration.
Ghostlights evokes various different emotions, as all good operas should, but ultimately I’m left with the feeling of being uplifted and happy. Such larger-than-life music should be celebrated and it’s only appropriate that its lasting impact is a positive one more than anything else.
70 minutes of pure escapist showmanship. Loved it.
Favourite Track: Seduction of Decay. Geoff Tate, (Queensrÿche), has always had one of my favourite voices, and on this track he shines. The music backs him up to the hilt and the entire song is glorious.
Whispering Woods are from Romania and this is their second album. They play Symphonic Gothic Metal.
This style of music was all the rage in the late 90’s/early 00’s and I haven’t heard a band play it so full-on in quite a while.
Recalling bands like The Sins of Thy Beloved and Tristania, this is richly textured operatic Metal with keyboards and flute accompaniment.
And boy, does it take me back! I was listening to a lot of bands like this at one point and Whispering Woods would have easily fit in.
Perditus et Dea has a huge production and sometimes it feels like the guitars are hitting home like a hammer. Everything is ultra-clear and no expense seems to have been spared in helping the band realise their vision.
The powerful female vocals are expertly performed, clearly by singers of great skill and accomplishment. There’s a definite theatricality to these vocals that spills over to the music too, almost as if each song is an act in a play.
The songs themselves are well-composed and have a good balance between the theatrical and operatic elements and the hard Metal core of the band. One of the things I really like about Whispering Woods is that the Metal component of the band has a big presence and is not subordinate to anything else. For all of the ostentation and flair of a band like this, Whispering Woods are a Metal band first and foremost.
I find this is a style that it’s quite easy to sound generic in; Whispering Woods avoid this by good songwriting, some interesting ideas and a strong sound. That they don’t fall into the trap of simply aping what is, by now, a well-worn style is another mark in their favour; instead they take the genre template and infuse it with their own personality to create an veritable exemplar of the style.
If you’re not a fan of female fronted Gothic Metal then this is unlikely to sway you. If, however, you’re partial to the genre and like a bit of Doom and melodrama alongside it, then Perditus et Dea is one to check out.
Me? I’ve really enjoyed this, and I hope you will too.
Canadian band Sovereign Council play Power/Symphonic Metal.
Well, it’s happened again. Another band from Canada who fooled me into thinking they would be another Nightwish et al rip off, (due to lazy assumptions on my part from descriptions of the band), whereas in reality there’s a lot more going on here. They’re not female fronted for a start.
Along with the recent album from Merkabah, they must be doing something very right in Canada, as even though the two bands don’t sound massively alike they both come from the Power/Symphonic mould and the Canadian scene at the moment seems a hotbed of talent.
The band play their music competently and have the right idea with the music. The symphonics and keyboards are relatively subdued for this genre; you can definitely hear them of course but they’re not over the top. The band also have a bit of an electronica influence here and there which adds a nice touch.
The main male vocals are restrained and confident; no show boating here just quality emotive singing. The female backing vocals add a layer of texture and colour to the songs, and are not anywhere near as ubiquitous as the descriptions would have you believe. Mix this with a few harsher screams and growls and it all comes together as a package quite nicely.
Sovereign Council are also savvy enough to know that ultimately this is all about the Metal and don’t bury the guitars under the admittedly talented vocals. Instead the two walk side by side, with the guitars being just as prominent as the vocals, as they should be.
Check this band out and give them your support.
Merkabah come from Canada and play Symphonic/Power Metal.
I must confess that upon seeing the words “female fronted” and “symphonic” in the description I immediately feared the worst and was expecting some form of Nightwish rip-off. This deplorable state of affairs is caused by the sheer abundance of such clones, so maybe you can forgive my cynicism. You should already be able to tell, however, that I was wrong, and happily so.
This is not a what I was expecting, as it’s far more of the Power Metal genre than the Symphonic/Gothic Metal one and as such it’s a very fresh, energising and downright exciting release!
I’ve stated previously that Freedom Call are one of my favourite Power Metal bands, and although Merkabah don’t sound especially like them, I get the same feelings of happiness and excitement off both bands.
This is life-affirming Metal, that deserves the capitalisation more than most.
Melodic Power Metal, with keyboard/Symphonic accompaniment and top drawer songwriting; this was never going to be anything other than a winner with me, notwithstanding my initial erroneous assumptions.
The singer has a fantastic voice that wipes the floor with most Power Metal vocalists. Her voice is a perfect combination of beauty and power.
The songs are on the longer side, especially the final title track which clocks in at 12:00. These lengths give the band ample room to explore their chosen musical territory and flex their creative muscles, expanding their horizons into more Progressive waters on occasion. Red Letter Days is a great example of this, although at 5:44 it’s actually one of the shorter tracks.
The songwriting is immaculate and the album blazes bright, burning away any false Metal daring to stand in its hallowed presence. I can’t recommend this enough.
Wonderbox Metal 