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Review:
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This is the debut album from the French symphonic metal
sextet, although the maturity in their music is phenomenal.
They have a truly massive sound, with huge orchestrations,
thundering band, and their own 15 strong Dark Whispers Choir.
This makes the production by leader, main songwriter, and
guitarist Vynce Leff even more remarkable, every instrument
can be clearly heard, no mean feat when there is so much
going on. Telya Melane has a soaring voice, reminiscent
of a young Sharon Den Adel (Within Temptation), she has
to give it some real oomph to rise above the music, and
she shows enormous skill in singing some very demanding
vocal lines. ****
The album starts with a trio of progressive, symphonic,
gothic, power metal, epics, that move seamlessly from light
to dark, before the awesome ‘The Power and the Glory’. The
brief ‘Freedom’ is jaw dropping, with gorgeous choir and
guitar solo. The next song ‘Escaping the Ghosts of Reality’
is heavier with some growling, even though I belong to the
anti growling club, I have to admit it is very effectively.
Even this song flows into quieter waters. ‘Atlantis’ features
a chorus that most bands would give their right arms for.
‘The Old Man in the Park’ is extraordinary, moving from
a gentle start to something darker, with a very unusual
chord change. ‘The Seeds of Chaos’ blasts your ears off
before the choral first part of ‘Daughter of the Night’.
This segues into part 2, which shows off everything that
is great about this band, Within Temptation’s symphonic
gothic mixed with power metal. The last song ‘On the Wings
of Time’ has a Celtic intro that even features bagpipes,
before moving into something that sounds like Mike Oldfield
gone metal. It ends with the bagpipes fading off into the
distance, like the clans leaving Culloden (famous Scottish
battle). ****
This album is close to musical nirvana for me, and anyone
who like massive, sophisticated and progressive symphonic
metal should rush out and grab a copy. Available from http://ascendancerecords.com/site/ordering-albums/
and various other reputable outlets.
9.5 out of 10
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