Rich, tasty, youthful and
technical symphonic power metal with
strong progressive flakes hits me hard in
the face, when this finish musical
revelation called Adamantra release
their second album. Their debut album
came in 2009 (Revival) and it was sadly enough only
released in Finland. After several
years of writing and production, are
they back with full force. A lot of time
has passed, and they have used the time very
wisely. This is a metal band you have to
check out, if you like metal music like;
Symphony X, Dream Theater, Blind
Guardian, Royal Hunt, Seventh Wonder or
if you are a fan of progressive metal
and power metal in a tasty, fat and
juicy blend.
I find this very enjoyable. With
amazing vocals from Toumas Nieminen and
insane guitar and keyboard skills from
Christian Pulkkinen and Panu Kiskola.
The opening track 'Lionheart' is a
mastodon song which clocks in at 18:15,
it's a masterful first song that starts
with stunning guitar layers upon layers
and accelerates off and breaks of with
varied tempo changes, all seasoned with
classic Finnish melancholic sultry mood.
An eighteen minutes metal opera with
symphonic, bombastic melodies and very
progressive occasionally. In 'Three'
the progressive parts are more obvious and
the guitars and vocals are much more
aggressive. 'In The Shadow of the Cross'
is a more of a classic power metal song
with charming vocals from Toumas.
Harsher tones and darker, stiffer
guitars starts 'The Oracle', but it turns
into more classic power metal.
The epic song 'Angel of Music'
is a classic finish prog metal song
with some splashes of Nightwish emotions
with the brilliant guest voice of Helena
Haaparanta! Next song is the shortest
track on the album and clocks in at
3:33, it's called 'Red Death' and is
maybe the weakest song. 'Wicked Chain of
Events' is one of the fastest songs on
'Act II: Silent Narratives' and Nieminen
manages to do some stunning vocals
performances in this one. The full
blown progressive track 'Circle of Sorrow' is
also an technical metal song, which has
melodic parts as well.
I have to put some extra attention to
the awesome closing track 'On Ember
Remains' which is one of 2014 top songs,
all genres included. A track with
everything within and incredible
drumming from Mikko Sepponen! Absolutely
amazing track. When you think it's
over, don't press the stop button, there's
more....Yes, it's the same guitar loops
like in the first track 'Lionheart'.
Marvelous.
This is another big progressive
metal album release from Power Prog and
Adamantra will definitely be on my top
list of albums 2014!!
Thanks for the ride and good luck!
Adamantra Line Up:
Mikko Sepponen: Drums
Tuomas Nieminen: Vocals
Jukka Hoffrén: Bass
Christian Pulkkinen: Keyboards
Panu Kiskola: Guitars
