Well, here we have another record that helps to hollow out a great genre, the half-symphonic Power Metal, trying to ride along the already starved-out wave of bands playing this style.
In terms of quality, I put
Olympos Mons in the same category as
Dragonhammer,
Majesty and countless other acts, all bands that are totally lacking any kind of imagination and personal identity.
The band tries to sound like
Labyrinth,
Rhapsody, and similar acts, with the usual run-of-the-mill double bass drums, melodic choruses and semi-orchestral arrangements, but the attempt fails badly, due to a total lack of nerve, charm, or just a few surprising moments.
I must mention, in all fairness, that the musicians are good at handling their instruments, and a few approved parts are to be found here and there.
The music is far from simple in structure, and tracks like
The Last Light Of The Moon and
Black even has some quality in them. These songs are a little more dark and melancholic and have a mysterious feel to them, which suits the band a lot more than the conventional Euro Power Metal styled tunes.
The main problem is, that the album is boring. Plain and simple. The songs seem stretched out and uninspiring, and having a terrible singer in front, doesn't exactly enhance the experience.
Ian E. Highhill's highpitch sounds extremely forced on several occasions, which the very annoying
Black Desiree is a perfect example of. This song will hunt me in my nightmares!
Furthermore the singer too needs to look up the word "enthusiasm" in a dictionary and learn it's meaning!
The more sinister and mystic passages, as the fine chorus in
Black works , and could be developed further, so maybe there's still hope.
The band is capable of playing, even the slightly complex stuff, but usually the songs with many different parts appear as a bag of bones, without a spine. Lots of ideas floating around without any real fixpoint to bind them together in a satisfying way.
Written by
Nina Monday, January 31, 2005
Show all reviews by NinaRatingsNina: 3/10Members: No members have rated this album yet.
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