Third
album of Italian folk power metal combo Spellblast. Did I say folk? Well on the
first 2 albums they were indeed a metal band with a lot of folk influences, but
on this new album they have moved away from that style. There is also a new singer
called Daniele Scavoni, he has a lower sounding voice than his predecessor and
his pronounciation of the English language is better. He sticks to the new music
style the band is playing. The lyrics on this album are based on "The Dark Tower"
story origanally written by Stephen King.
Back to the music, gone are most of
the violins, pipes and other traditional instruments and for me that is a
disappointment. I liked Spellblast because of the fact that they didn't sound
like the umpteenth (Italian) power metal band. With the music style they play on this new
album, they sound a lot like many other orchestral power metal bands around the
globe. They aren't really different anymore. Sure, the songs have warm
orchestral parts and the music isn't bad of course, but I don't think it is
special anymore.
For
the traditional power metal fan there is enough to like on this album and indeed the country and Western influences in "Highway to Lud" and "The Reaping" are
nicely implemented in the music. Personally I prefered the old Spellblast style
more, but there will be a lot who love this new style for sure, judge yourself.
