Album Review - Emerald Sun - Escape From Twilight

Emerald Sun is not a band that worries about any kind of comparisons that might be made or this "thing" called ah...innovation. Oh no. Right on their website they proclaim that their singer sounds *just like* Michael Kiske and flaunt their similarities to Helloween. Hell, the two bands are almost interchangeable. That is, if Helloween had Kiske singing and it was 1988 with the Keeper cds hot off the presses again. Alas, that was twenty years ago and Helloween is being fronted by someone else so perhaps there IS room out there for a clone. Then again, after just a few listens to "Escape From Twilight", maybe its best to let sleeping dogs..and bands...lie.

The cover looks positively *awesome* but like books, you certainly can't judge a band by their album cover. The vocals are Kiske-like yet seem weak and their drummer is called "B-Wicked", which screams 80s cheese. The songs are not even that great, being third rate shadows of every power metal track that has ever been produced. And speaking of production, its pretty thin and the guitars are buried somewhere in the backyard of the mix. The best offering of the bunch is unsurprisingly one of the songs that received the most love, care and workover, that being "High In the Sky" which beats the power thing into your brain. It's precise, heavy, has some good solos, but just misses the mark anyway.

"Scream Out Loud" seems to want to pound its way to the ends of the earth and back. Its just another Gamma Ray-ish workout without any real unique bits to stand out. Heavy noise strung together by guitars and drums and that incessant screaming by Jimmy Santrazami. Yes, it's great that you can hit those Kiske notes so well, but does it have to be so constant? There's no shadows, subtlety or depth to this vocal performance. Something this loud and screechy should do more than just annoy. "Sword of Light" could have been a Stratovarius demo piece. Its neither good nor great, and the lack of polish is sorely obvious. By the time the breakneck speed is slowed down by the soft ballad "Not Alone", it's too little too late.

So Greece gives us Emerald Sun and with shameless finesse they pound through eleven songs of lightning speed, Kiske-like high pitched howls and thundery bass lines. Its a nice emulation of Helloween, but still.. that's all it is. There is nothing original here, and while the songs are performed admirably with skill and passion for the music, it falls flat. We've been here, done that, and heard these all before done by Helloween and the many bands that came after them. Gamma Ray, Stratovarius, et cetera. However, if you like that sort of thing and need more of it, "Escape From Twilight" is still a hesitation to recommend. You have to be really diehard into power metal and in the mindset to own absolutely everything to need this in your collection too. The album is just so bloody boring, despite how heavy it is. Some will go gaga over this, that's a given since it is hard and running at a speedy clip and oftentimes that is all that's required to attract a fanbase, but the rest of us are looking for a little more... originality... in our music. That's something that Emerald Sun doesn't even pretend to offer.

Written by Alanna
Monday, June 25, 2007
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Ratings

Alanna: 4/10

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