DIVINEFIRE — Eye of the Storm (review)

DIVINEFIRE — Eye of the Storm album cover Album · 2011 · Power Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
The Block
The worlds on fire

Even though there are myriad amounts of power metal bands out there, especially with religious leanings, Divinefire stands out just a bit. Yes, they do sometimes fall into that clichéd power metal sound but for the most part they sound pretty original and creative. Even at its lowest points it puts forth both god sound and effort. And, for those who are a bit tentative about lyrics with religious leanings, don’t despair that much, they aren’t that prevalent.

The musicians on this album are very good, and there are some very good guests, too. They include Pontus Norgren (Hammerfall), Markus Sigfridsson (7Days, Harmony & Dark Water), Andreas Passmark (Royal Hunt & Narnia), CJ Grimmark (Narnia, Rob Rock & Full Force), and most notably Thomas Vikström (Therion, Candlemass,7Days & Mehida). Besides these great voices, the instrumental sections stand out, too. Both the keyboards and guitars mix very well throughout the whole album and especially well on “To Love and Forget” and “Send Me Out”. The guitar solo near the end of the latter really exemplifies great musicianship and control. These two elements are what really make this album stand out a bit more than the rest of the field. While most power metal is mainly a chorus and then maybe some solos and such, “Eye of the Storm” mixes these elements around to create a unique yet constant feel. Through the 50 some minutes that this album lasts it does tend to get a little repetitive in the middle and towards the end.

One thing that keeps this album interesting is the vocals. Christian Liljegran is very good at both singing and creating the lyrics. His voice is both crisp and clear while still having a metal feel to it. Also what I like about his compositions is that they tell a story, and each song is a mini story which I find really cool. Even if you don’t like the religious themes, which don’t at all detract from the album, it’s hard to discredit him for a wonderful job putting this all together. Jani Stefanovic is another person I would like to point out for his multiple talents. In the credits he is said to be on guitars, bass, keyboards, and drums. Not only does he play those four instruments superbly he also orchestrated the whole thing and contributed on the vocal parts with some growls. While the growls aren’t superb it is a very nice effort and I do like his style.

The production on this album is very good by once again Jani Stefanovic. The production is warm but still very heavy and powerful while be very clean and precise.

“Eye of the Storm” is an album I would recommend to any fan of majestic or melodic metal. This is another great release from Liljengran Records so far in 2011 and I think it is safe to say that almost everything coming out of its label is well worth picking up. For their very good release Divinefire gets 3.5 stars.
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