Another year, another power metal album. Kenziner's long-in-development new album "The Last Horizon" is a great effort on so many fronts. The band features amazing guitarist Jarno Keskinen, so I suppose that is their claim to fame. And, yet, this album is a bit of a mixed bag in some areas. Let me elaborate.
 
The progressive power metal subgenre is extremely crowded, and most of the bands sound exactly alike. Kenziner, I'm afraid, is no different, though they've been around longer. The band, obviously, plays a fast and heavy progressive metal with plenty of epic moments, gigantic riffs, and more neo-classical ideas than you can shake a stick at. They combine all this very well, as everything fits together just so. Vocalist Markku Kuikka has a perfect tone and hits awesome high notes. Jarno is a guitar wizard, and he delivers amazing riffs. In fact, the negative space between his notes are just as awesome, as he is extremely adept at many time signatures. Drummer Make Lievonen and bassist JJ Hjelt perform memorably on the rhythm section with bombast and skill. Lastly, Jukka Karinen delivers the goods with some massive keyboard lines. 
 
However, I could write this about a few dozen other bands, too. The musicianship is through the roof here, but the creativity is nowhere to be found. This is the same power metal you've heard 100 times. In fact, Kenziner sounds almost exactly like my favorite power metal band, Canada's Borealis---down to the unique tone to the keyboards, though Borealis must be influenced by Kenziner. This is a good thing, though, as I was immediately sucked into the music during the fantastic keys on "Run for Your Life".
 
This album, then, is not a disappointment. It's standard power metal on all fronts, but it's done really well and it will satisfy that metal itch everyone has. My favorite tracks include the aforementioned "Run for Your Life", "I Am Eternal", and the kinetic "No Turning Back", and the title track that ends the album. These songs are appropriately epic and catchy, just like the rest of the album. So, then, "The Last Horizon", despite its flaws, is an enjoyable ride that borders on brilliant at times.  It will not take the world by storm, but it will certainly earn more fans worldwide.  Power metal fans should definitely give Kenziner's new album a try.