In the aftermath of one of the most unpleasant band split-ups ever, Timo Kotipelto, former singer of Stratovarius, approaches with his second solo release.
The major difference from his fantastic debut is that Coldness is slightly more dark edged and harder in its appearance, once again successfully mixing a Power Metal approach with more Classic and Progressive Metal influences.
Production wise all elements are top notch, a cool heavy base and a nice rich balance.
The list of competent contributors goes as follows:
Janne Wirman: Keyboards
Jari Kainulainen: Bass
Juhani Malmberg: Guitars
Mike Romero: Guitars
Mirka Rantanen: Drums
Lets take a short look at the 10 songs:
Seeds Of Sorrow wins quite a bit by the fantastic guitar/keyboard solo part; otherwise this is straight ahead melodic Power Metal with grooving bass parts and a driving rhythm.
With
Reasons we are dealing with a more relaxed and rocking style that works out very well, a central chorus takes up a lot of space and even though it's good it's also used to the limit.
Around offers great mystic keyboard moods and a technical solo by Mr. Romero, all in all a very cool mid-tempo track.
The tempo accelerates with
Can You Hear The Sound, nicely packed with some great guitar riffs, tight drums and a melodic key solo. Not the most striking chorus but a good cut.
In
Snowbound the words atmospheric and groovy should make a pretty good description of the central aspects. Once again the balance between guitar and keyboard in the solo part is well weighed.
Journey Back is my favourite cut on Coldness, featuring a breathtaking and emotional chorus line that gives me a very special feeling, life confirming in a grand way.
Cool detailed drums and Timo's special and clear voice sounding astonishing.
Evening's Fall has a successful melancholic mood and Mike throws in some teasing guitar playing that make things just a bit more interesting. The chorus could have been more memorable but overall a solid piece.
Coldness Of My Mind features a fitting and very skilful solo part, a very important element on this record as you might have guessed by now. Otherwise I find this one a bit unstructured but still having some well performed passages. Overall the musical standard is very high on this record, a fact that clearly mattered when I had to make up my mind for the rating.
Take Me Away flirts a bit with some progressive key passages and has a melodic chorus that melts nicely together with the darker verse part, all in all another well working song.
Here We Are is an extremely heavy and tight ending track, based on an earth shaking guitar riff. A fantastic vocal performance and a catchy chorus line being other highlights. I'm not too thrilled about the distorted ending, it certainly don't enhance this otherwise ingenious and splendid track.
The above evaluation can sound a bit harsh, but its really not. I'm just pointing out some minor elements that keep some songs from being even better. When it all comes down to it there's nothing really wrong with this album, most songs are very good indeed.
Lyrically Coldness is a very profound and personal album: doubt, sadness and a self-searching element taking on important roles, great lyrics mixed with great music.
Not quite as thrilling as his debut but a solid and varied album.
Written by
Tommy Monday, April 26, 2004
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