This is my
first acquaintance with this Ukranian band. Bandleader is Dimitriye Pavlovsky
(lead guitar, backing vocals). What's also special about this band is that they
have two lead singers, Konstantin Naumenko (vocals on track 2,4,5,6,8,9) and
Oleksa Dynnyk. Their sound is different, but both fall within the powerful clean
genre. Oleksa sounds a bit lower (Goran Edman style), Konstantin has a higher
style, a bit more in Sonata Arctica tradition (Kakko).
The music is
a mix of progressive metal with neo-classical parts and with rather upfront
keys. Besides that there are nice piano parts and an occasional grunt, symphonic
elements and part of songs with heavy guitar riffs leaning towards thrash.
"Masked Illusion Part II & III" is divided in an instrumental part in which the
musicians go all the way to show their skills and a singing part. First half of
the song has high speed hunting guitar soli varied with keyboard soli.
In general
the songs with Konstantin are rather fast, while songs with Oleka, like "Lost
Empire" and "Edge of Sanity" are a bit slower and sound a bit darker. If you are
a fan of bands like Adagio, Majesty, Sonata Arctica, Magic Kingdom and Iron Mask
you have a fine mix here. Certainly the band can make some steps in song
writing department, but I couldn't find a song below average. Some tracks top others and
some songs would perhaps be better off being a bit shorter.
Nevertheless
a nice album!
