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Review:
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France seems to have cornered the market in speedy
symphonic metal, with bands such as Kerion, Fairyland and
Auspex, and is currently leading the world in the production
of metal bands of all types. Wildpath were founded in 2001
by Olivier Caron, guitar, and Alexis Garsault keys, who
are to this day their main composers and producers. Non
Omnis Moriar, roughly translated as ‘not all of me will
die’ (you don’t get Latin translations in other magazines,
we are a cut above the rest), is their second album, a concept
piece about ‘an awe inspiring mansion, built on the far
reaches of a never ending road’, and the secrets it holds.
The divine Marjolaine Bernard has a crystal clear, effortless,
semi operatic voice, backed up by excellent choir arrangements,
and the contributions from all members of the band are first
class. The album is made up of symphonic speedy metal epics
that lie on the lighter side of the genre, this is highly
melodic and full of changes of pace and mood; I also like
their use of glockenspiels and subtle folk elements. They
rattle along nicely at a reasonable up-tempo pace, nothing
like Dragonforce who appear to be at 78rpm (ask your granddad),
and when they do use double bass drumming, it’s well buried
in the mix to create a nice rumble, not the awful, irritating,
monotonous pounding you get in a lot of speed/power metal.
Interspersed between the songs are orchestral interludes
that fit seamlessly into the overall album, the band seem
to have a love of composers of popular light classics such
as Copland and Ketelby, who wrote lovely descriptive music
such as ‘Appalachian Spring’ and ‘In a Monastery Garden’.
This has really brought a smile to my face, it is a truly
delightful listen, and a must for Rhapsody, Sonata Arctica,
and Fairyland fans, but lovers of Nightwish and Within Temptation
will also really enjoy this. Available from the Brennus
Shop http://www.brennus-music.com/
and other outlets, including Stay Gold in Japan
where they have been very successful. It is well worth 9.5
out of 10. Phil
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