Having read Nils' quite funny updates on their official website for quite some time, promising the coming of the New World Messiah, I'm pretty excited finally holding the piece in my hand. Fact is that there isn't much "new world" about this their sixth release, it's good traditional melodic Power Metal.
These guys have studied well, the rites of how to make a comprehensive and thorough album without the need of going into 10-minute curiosities, said in another way: It has more to offer than first meets the ear.
With that said, I still think they have the potential for making something that is even more melodic, challenging, catchy and perhaps a little bit more aggressive as on their fantastic Afterlife release.
Here goes a one by one description:
New World Messiah is a great and typical fast paced opener; the multi layer chorus gives it a great bombastic dimension coupled with an energetic rhythm section and drumming this is very interesting and technical.
Against The World follows a mid-tempo path build up around a slow rhythm, cool keyboard refinements but also a chorus that is a bit overdone, overall a decent song.
Avalon contains the albums catchiest chorus and the vocals from Jenny Lindquist are melodic and intense at the same time, characteristic for his great performance overall. The jamming guitar solo sounds amazing and the song's positive energy is very infectious.
Awakening is my favourite song on this release; this is partly due to the aggressive guitar work and furious drums, giving the song a really powerful rhythm section. The ultra melodic chorus works out brilliantly as a contrast to this otherwise very hard song. To spice things even more, the bass shows itself with some great variations and a solid base.
Egyptica adds a more epic and symphonic dimension to the album. A real treat is the varied almost progressive mid-section, it surely gives the album a broader profile.
With
Break Away we are back in the traditional vein. When making a song that is so chorus reliant in its structure it takes quite a successful melody, monster riff or other thrilling arrangements to make it fantastic and this song unfortunately doesn't have that.
Don't get me wrong this is still solid Power Metal, a bit anonymous though.
A bit of the same thing goes for
End Of Days; here the excellent double guitar lead part saves most of the day.
The Flame Will Never Die couples hard riffs and atmospheric keyboard/piano tunes to make up the albums slowest and most grooving song. With a closer listen minor details presents themselves and the driving chorus that seemed a bit tame a first gets its own charming glow.
One Nation is a fast rocker that contains a hymn-like vibe due to a grand chorus-line with supporting keyboard arrangements. A great song with heavy guitar work.
Nightmare has a typical
Nocturnal Rites approach, fast rhythm section and central refrain, all working out rather well, the swift guitar solo being one of the albums best.
The musical performance is very good indeed; I love the well-played drums and the heavy rhythm guitar, some solos could have been better but overall a high standard is upheld. The bass does a solid job but could have had a more conspicuous role. I have always liked Metal with keyboards/piano and I don't think I would have liked this one as much without it, it is used sporadic but in the right places and only enhanced the songs and makes a more profound album.
The lyrical side of the album is classic Power Metal material: Mysterious adventures and mythological settings, but also my more relatable issues. There is some cool stuff here and overall it just fits in.
The sound is transparent without loosing its vigour, a rather traditional sound that fits well with this style of music, again an inch more punch and depth wouldn't have hurt.
Summing up: This is a very good album containing great melodies and harder elements and only a few not that interesting constructions.
Listening to these songs in the morning and still catching myself humming different melody lines in the evening is in itself a good sign.
Written by
Tommy Monday, March 22, 2004
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