CELESTIAL DECAY — QuantumX (review)

Album · 2014 · Power Metal

3/5 · 2014-08-20
adg211288

QuantumX (2014) is the second full-length album by Swedish power metal act Celestial Decay. It's been several years since the band released their debut album Contradictum (2010) and a lot has changed in regard to how Celestial Decay functions. Whereas Contradictum was a band effort of six members the core line-up on QuantumX consists of just two musicians, guitarists Hobbe Houshmand and Freddy Olofsson with everything else handled by guest performers. Of those two only Hobbe Houshmand also performed on the debut. One might expect a multi-vocalist metal opera with that sort of setup but that isn't the case; the album is fronted by Aeon Zen's Andi Kravljaca with growls added by Within Y's Andreas Solveström on a couple of tracks.

QuantumX has been released in two versions, a CD version which comes in a DVD size case and an extended digital version. I must admit I find it a questionable practice to release a physical copy with edited versions on it, which is what the case here is judging from a picture of the CD version's track listing which is the same as the promo copy I received only with certain songs shortened in length. Fortunately to balance that buyers of physical copies will also get a digital copy free of charge. Still with that said at least they've been open about it, though I know that if I'd brought a CD instead of reviewing a promo copy I'd expect to hear the full unedited album on the media I choose to pay for.

The music on QuantumX is a mix of power metal, symphonic metal and progressive metal for the most part but there are also forays into other ideas to a lesser extent such as traditional metal and I even detected a thrash bit at one point. Some of the symphonic ideas have a vaguely folksy quality to them too. I'd say the backbone of the release is power metal though but listeners shouldn't expect an album that focuses on speed all of the time. Andi Kravljaca proves a great choice for lead vocalist bringing the clean and soaring melodic tones that power metal fans lap up. Andreas Solveström's growls by comparison are only really used for backing purposes, which is quite effective too. There is also some female voiced narration used in a couple of places. The band really reminds me of Ancient Bards work in these instances. The sound of the album can be a bit generic at times though, for all the stuff the band gets right. Despite the progressive elements Celestial Decay throw in there isn't really anything that out of the ordinary here, making the appeal of the album limited in my opinion.

It's competently done and enjoyable album from start to finish all the same but if anything the real issue with QuantumX is that it's ambitious to a fault. The reason for this is because of its very long running time which is over the eighty minute mark, with a total of fifteen tracks, not all of which stand out as good as ones like Blinded, Ashes of Decay and Life & Death, which are all excellent. The album simply doesn't manage to fully hold my attention if I try to take it in a single listen and that's definitely a detrimental issue on any kind of release. Their cover of Bonnie Tyler's Total Eclipse of the Heart is also pretty cringe worthy. I do enjoy their power metal arrangement of it but it's the one place on the album where Andi Kravljaca's singing just doesn't work for me. Ironically it's actually the longest track Final Symphony that stands out as the best on the album despite overall timing issues, though unfortunately it's one of the ones that appears to have received an edit on the physical copy judging by that image I referred to earlier listing an 11:30 duration for it when the version I have is 12:50.

QuantumX is an enjoyable enough power metal release but there are some issues that Celestial Decay need to overcome for future efforts. For this one a 3 star rating seems fair.