How do these Germans do it ? They just keep spitting out quality releases like this every month. Ok, I agree, there are also a lot of crap releases coming out of Germany too, but nevertheless I`m amazed by this country`s metal scene. As you understand this is another German progressive metal band joining the club. As far as I know this is their debut album, and what a debut album it is !
The first impression of this disc was very good as the cover and booklet features some cool artwork and pictures. Now, over to the band, which has five members, and play melodic prog metal with a touch of melodic and symphonic heavy.
Opener "City of Light" kicks off energetic and progressive with attacking guitars and floating keyboards. The song is very accessible and it`s hard to sit still as the song is catchy as hell. A nice melody line followed by a real good chorus. Yes, this is the real thing ! The song also has a cool bass solo part in the middle. Track two "Prophecy" follow the same style, energetic, powerful and once again a good chorus. Track three, the title track, opens with a nice bass lead, to be followed by guitars and keys. Pompous and heavy, with a cool choir part a couple of minutes into the song. I can see fans of Eternity X will like this song, well i guess the whole cd will appeal to Eternity X fans.
Track 4 starts off like a straight melodic metal song until the keyboard solo appears and we`re back to the progressive metal style. The cd has a unique atmosphere, mostly because of the elements of late 80`s, early 90`s melodic metal, combined with excellent keys and modern prog metal. I don`t know if this sound is intentional, but it works well and gives them the extra personal touch.
The cd is very accessible as the melodies are very melodic, powerful and energic, not overdoing the technical parts, tasty atmospheric keyboards and strong vocals which fit the music nicely. The band has also used some acoustical guitars to give the atmosphere an extra touch. Oh yeah, i like it.
The cd has 10 songs, while the 10th song is a 11:30 minutes long bonustrack. The sound and production job is above average and should not cause any problems for the listener. All songs are good, some songs better than others, but no fillers here. Fans of bands like Hittman, Etenity X, Atmosfear, Divine Regale, Aztec Jade and Exises will love this cd, but both progressive metal and melodic metal fans should pick this one up, you won`t be dissapointed !
Another new outfit from Germany that deserve our praise.