|
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
Songwriters Trond Nicolaisen and Andreas Stenseth recruited a few musicians to record this album. Amongst them names like Graham Bonnet, Michael Kiske, Norman Kiersnowski, Charlie Zeleny and Mike Gorham. Especially Graham Bonnet, Michael Kiske and Mike Gorham see to that this album is worth listening to. The vocals camouflage the average songwriting. Without the vocals, this would be an album with not too special classic eighties melodic (power)-metal. After the intro, the strongest Avantasia-like sounding song "Gate of Freedom" starts, but after that the other tracks disappoint a little. There is no doubt about the instrumental control of the musicians (there are some nice guitar soli), but the production could have been a bit more into the face. The drums could have sounded more aggressive and the backing vocals sound a bit timid at times. With "A Song For You" and "The Ethereal Dream" there are two nice emotional ballads on the album. Personally I prefer the heavier tracks like "Doubt" ,"Liquid Scream" or the faster parts in several songs. That not all the singing is first class can be heard in "March of the Demons". The high vocals derail regularly. "The Ethereal Dream" can be heard twice on the album, one with Mike Gorham and the second with Michael Kiske on vocals. I would say: "pick your favorite". All in all, not a bad album, but far from original and not all the songs are on a high level. Looking at the musicians on this album, I did expect a bit more, nevertheless a nice album to listen to. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
