France did not forget the power metal! And the proof is Heavenly. Their fifth studio album “Carpe Diem” indeed is performed with great skills. Some songs jump straight into your brain and blossom there at first listening. All of them catch with awesome melodies, remaining choruses, many breaks and powerful guitars which gives a nice colorful diversity.

With the title of the album “Carpe Diem” (from the Latin poem by Horace) we enter the impression of our world in the slogan “Seize the day, trusting as little as possible in the future.”!  In this context the 9 songs, these shining pearls in the crown of power metal, remind us that the future is unknowable. So, we should scale our present moments and spend their joy in drinking wine or taking everything what we desire (See the mood setting artwork!). “Carpe Diem” emphasizes on making the most of current opportunities because life is short and time is fleeting.

In Heavenly’s fifth studio album as in their previous works we can find influences from Edguy, Stratovarius, Angra and Helloween, but the most evident is this one from Rhapsody and Gamma Ray. The big reason for this comparison is the voice of Benjamin Sotto – he sounds like Kai Hansen with alloys of Andre Matos and Tobias Sammet. Heavenly show melodic power metal with evident energy, and a pretty talented singer. They took the influences forward building on them and taking them to their own style to perfection. With “Carpe Diem” they reached a new level of technical brilliance and music presence.

A very enjoyable part of the album is the guitar work, with many heavy riffs and solos that are fast, melodic and to the point. Keyboards are delightful. The guitar and drums are in great union to make songs extremely powerful. The dual guitar attack melted blends into a great mixture. Heavenly’s “Ode to Joy” celebrates the ideal of power metal brotherhood. And we join their French metal manifest…