Kev Rowland
This is the second album from Swedish power metallers, and it is no surprise at all that this has been making waves within the scene. Heavily inspired by the likes of Rhapsody/Rhapsody of Fire, but with both a more metallic approach and a higher reliance on anthems and symphonic elements, this is certainly an interesting album. Singer Andreas Stolz is in fine form, able to hit the notes and stay there with no apparent degradation in pitch, allowing the rest of the guys to crunch away underneath. I have seen some reviews where they have been likened to Mercyful Fate, which is a stretch to be fair, but I prefer his vocals to Diamond's.
Both musically and lyrically this is massively over the top, but music of this genre needs to be taken that little bit further to be taken seriously, and this is definitely serious stuff. If you enjoy Stratovarius or classic Savatage then this is a new band to add to the list. Only two albums in and already producing music of fairly epic proportions, it will be interesting to see how they manage to top this, as this is a blast from start to end.
