Infinity
Overture
was conceived by Danish guitarist Niels Vejlyt back in 2005, with the intent to
write symphonic power metal with compositions of great intensity and beauty. It
is always a fine line to get the right balance between the bombastic and
symphonic elements and the more epic and traditional elements, to make the
verses and choirs memorable without over-doing it and make it all flow like a
silent stream.
Niels has found the balance and has wisely decided to go the safe way vocally;
Ian Perry (Consortium Project, Elegy) is handling the duties. And even though I
have always found that the he has his limitations in range I must admit that he
has never sounded stronger than he does on "Kingdom of Utopia". Lene Petersen
delivers the female contrast to Ian, and they pull well together. Musically I
would place them somewhere between Rhapsody of Fire, Kamelot and Elegy, which in
my book isn't such a bad place to be, and the musical level is very high, if in
doubt then all you need to is listen to the musical showcase called 'War Cry'
where they go full-throttle and kick some serious ass!
“Kingdom Of Utopia” was produced and mixed by Sascha Paeth and Miro, the
production team responsible for albums by Rhapsody of Fire, Kamelot and Angra in
conjunction with Niels, and Miro has also helped out with the orchestration. I
think it was very wise to work with precisely those two because they are
master's of creating the perfect sound for symphonic power metal bands, and this
one is no exception.
I think it is refreshing to hear well played and arranged symphonic power metal,
we haven't heard much from the main contributors in this genre for quite some
time, and
Infinity
Overture
offers us exactly all the virtues that makes this genre so interesting and
exciting: classical inspired parts, great harmonies, bombastic parts, fast
pounding drums, excellent keyboard and guitar leads and duels and catchy melodic
elements.
Quite an impressive debut album if you ask me...
