The Block Gods Grand Hotel

As soon as I was booked into Gods Grand Hotel, I tried to check out before I had to listen to the vocals again. In all seriousness, the vocals are very well sung; it’s just that they are so very cheesy. Golden Resurrection is a very good in terms of overall sound and the way they play symphonic metal; it’s just that their sound is kind of mainstream, and unoriginal. Also it is very power metal, in the way of drums, guitars and overall sound. Besides that, there are also the vocals, which definitely need some work both for there cheesiness and simplicity.

With lines such as “…You rose from the dead, I’m proud to wear the Holy Cross” and “I am ticked into God’s Grand Hotel, where the music lives forever…”, it’s hard to really get into and enjoy Glory to My King. The first couple of times that I listened to the album I really liked it, but after a while it stated to get old, and pretty cheesy. Beside Christian Liljegren’s voice sounding the same in almost every song, as I said before, the vocals are very cheesy, which detracts a lot from the nice feel of the album. On the good side, the vocals blend very well with the rest of the band, especially the guitars and keyboards.

Talking about musicians, there are many good ones to pick from on this album. The guitars are very good, taking the occasional solo such as the one in “Gods Grand Hotel”, which adds a very nice feel to the album. Also, the keyboards add a nice dimension to this album. They layer nicely with the guitars, but are about a half step lower in the mix, creating very nice texture and flow to the album. The drums are very good, but pretty standard for a power/symphonic metal album. Golden Resurrection has a vey nice sound that comes and goes between certain musical styles that make them sound very much like Symphony X and even Dream Theater in spots, like on the track “Never Look Back”. They have really good drums to open the songs, and then they transfer into a kind of complex drum structure that is very similar to Dream Theater’s, and Christian Liljegren sounds a lot like James Labrie, though not enough to sound like a complete copy.

The production on this album is solid, and I have nothing to say otherwise about it other than that it is very professionally done.

Glory to My King is a pretty good album by Golden Resurrection with very good musicianship for the likes of Tommy Johansson (Guitar and Keyboards) and Olov Andersson (Keyboards). For those who like kind of cheesy power metal, this is for you. Also if you like ReinXeed, which also features Tommy Johansson, than you will enjoy this one, too. AS for me Golden Resurrection’s good album gets 3 stars.

J-Man Metal Praise

Golden Resurrection is another one of those bands where, despite creating above-average music, ended up with an average result. Glory To My King has every ingredient for a successful neo-classical power metal album, and maybe that’s part of the problem. High quality musicianship and enjoyable compositions can only go so far when very little can be distinguished from the sea of modern power metal bands. Add in a few pounds of symphonic power metal cheese and often questionable lyrics, and you have a mediocre result. It’s really a shame that Golden Resurrection’s sound is so run-of-the-mill, because these guys are genuinely fun to listen to. The guitar and keyboard acrobatics are often amazing, the soaring vocals are breathtaking, and the compositions are fun, albeit a bit cliché. Even though I won’t be putting this album on too often in the future, I enjoyed listening to it during the last week.

Golden Resurrection plays a style of neo-classical/symphonic power metal in the vein of Yngwie Malmsteen, Royal Hunt, or even occasionally Helloween. There are also some progressive metal tendencies in the vein of Dream Theater, Fates Warning, and especially Symphony X. Of the 9 tracks on Glory To My King, the best song may very well be the opening, See My Commands, which contains some amazing guitar playing from Tommy Johansson. Never Look Back is another really enjoyable song with some catchy vocal lines. The Final Day is also noteworthy for the terrific playing from all of the musicians. Though the song isn’t great the whole way through, there are surely moments of excellence. The rest of the songs are, for the most part, average power metal tracks. Nothing too out of the ordinary; just fun power metal songs with some great musicianship. The main weakness lies in the lyrics and the more religious-oriented songs. Though I don’t have a problem with religious lyrics on principle, the lyrics on Glory To My King are often boring, cheesy, and even border on banality. Just listen to a song like Proud to Wear the Holy Cross or God’s Grand Hotel to get what I mean. Lyrics like “I wear the Holy Cross; you shed your blood for us; you rose from the dead; I’m proud to wear the Holy Cross” sounds like something I would hear during a sermon at church. Maybe that was their intention, but these aren’t the type of Christian lyrics that intrigue me in any way. They are far too shallow to offer any enjoyment or depth for me. Christian lyrics can be great when done correctly, but I can’t say that the lyrics here are done well. On top of that, a song like Proud to Wear the Holy Cross is pretty trivial and banal from a musical standpoint. The chorus (cheesy lyrics and all) is repeated far too many times throughout the song, and the verses aren’t much better. Though this is really the only throwaway song on the album, it’s enough to sever my enjoyment significantly. Thankfully, the other eight songs are at least decent.

As I’ve mentioned earlier, the musicians in Golden Resurrection are great. Guitarist Tommy Johansson often takes the prize, but keyboard player Olov Andersson never ceases to amaze me either.

The production is pretty standard for a power metal album. It sounds commanding and powerful, though there is still some warmth to accommodate the lighter sections. This sound fits Golden Resurrection’s music perfectly, though I wish the drums would be a bit less treble-heavy. It’s a minor complaint, though, and the album overall sounds very professional.

Conclusion:

Glory To My King is a good debut album by Golden Resurrection, but I can’t help thinking that it could’ve been better. If the lyrics were improved, there were a bit less power metal “cheese”, and there were some more originality, I could see myself enjoying Glory To My King much more. Since many of the compositions are great and the musicians are talented, it’s hard not to feel slightly disappointed with the end result. Since the overall level of quality is still high, I’ll give the album 3 solid stars. This is recommended to fans of power metal that are okay with hearing an album that isn’t exactly a revelation to the genre.