According to singer Isak Stenvall “We wanted to make this album sound as close as possible to how we sound live, and with that I mean no over-dubs, no keyboards and of course no cutting out every single note we play and putting it in “perfect” order. You can write bombastic and varied metal songs with just four instruments, it's all in the arrangements. That’s why our album has such a great organic feeling!”. So there. This is the third album from this Swedish band, who originally met at met at the Music Academy Of Ingesund in Arvika. Isak feels that it is hard to describe their music, which I do find somewhat confusing, as I can do it in just one word, Helloween. Sweden Rock Magazine named the band “a new hope for European power metal” after their debut, and now they are back with their third so I guess someone likes them out there.
But, I have heard this all before, and some thirty years ago it was being done much better than this. It feels false, with no bottom end, and while there is no doubting that the guys all know what they are doing and that Isak has a very high pitched voice, there is nothing special about it. While it isn’t something I would bother taking off the player, I also can’t imagine me taking the effort to putting it on either. It is okay while it is playing, but thoughts soon start to wander, and at the end there is certainly no inclination to put it on again. If you enjoy Helloween style power metal then investigate, otherwise leave alone.
