The unfortunately titled French band,
Fairyland put a slightly different slant on power / symphonic metal.
It doesn't have the sharp cutting edge of their fellow countrymen, Manigance, nor the taut, tight execution of so many of the technically proficient bands currently inhabiting the genre.
But in among the high velocity bpms, there's a crafted, floating quality to
Fairyland's music. The songs are fluid, focused affairs with a breadth of expressive content. New vocalist Max LeClercq dovetails seamlessly with the sonic traffic speeding around and above him. The band's music doesn't lack ambition, and they always aim for that epic sweep - the one that takes the music from zero to heroic heights in the course of a song.
But what's really interesting about '
Fall Of An Empire' is this:
Fairyland eschew the genre's clichés and have discarded most of power metal's mindset.
For example, their music often moves off tangentially into melodic rock territory. Listen to
'Slaves Forlorn' and '
Eldanie Uelle' and hear traces of
Valentine and
Fair Warning in among the escalating operatics and harmonic ingenuity.
And while the rhythms don't lack pace, it's the sheer quality of the material that provides an overwhelming sense of momentum as we go through the album.
'
The Awakening' is the perfect example of the band's originality - giving each member of the band their chance to be frontman. Each variation focuses on particular instruments - piano, keyboards, guitar - ending with an elevated and invigorating fugue.
Unusually in this genre, on many of the songs - most notably '
Walls Of Laemnil' and '
Lost In The Dark Lands' - there's a "call & response" structure to the vocal arrangements, and in fact on the former, the backing voices take over as lead in some sections of the song. It's a trick that works extremely well, adding freshness and texture to what has become a flat and familiar landscape.
Songwriter/guitarist Philippe Giordana, Producer Didier Chesneau, take a bow right now.
In all honesty, this was an album from I expected little. It turned out to be a recording of considerable poise and confidence.
Written by
Brian Wednesday, January 10, 2007
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