Imperia is not just a sleepy city in Italy anymore. It's also the name of yet another gothic minded, female fronted band. There are a zillion of them out there and while a few years ago they were more unique, the genre is starting to become quite the cluttered one.
"Queen of Light" doesn't help the situation much either.
Imperia's first album had a distinct Eastern feel that lent it a taste of the exotic. Perhaps the music was not that mindblowing on that debut prospect either but at least it deviated more from the norm. The followup
"Queen" does nothing to stretch the limits. They play it safe, and for the most part it works, but it leaves the listener pining for more.
Helena Michaelsen is back at the lead mic and her voice is used as a weapon in their defense atleast sometimes. The operatic
Nightwish singing style is still here but not as widely spread as before. Its bits and pieces and sliding in and out of the music which is boldly pompous in its power moments and ponderously brooding when dishing out a hearty side of the symphonic.
The album is also curiously and almost uncomfortably too personal. The recordings were done while Helena was pregnant and even through the birth of her child which she called "Angel" (her solo disc a few years back was also titled Angel). Anyhow on
"The Birth of..." you get to hear some baby sounds that were uttered by her child. Thats just a little bit too much...
The disc is a strong one for
Nightwish addicts as it copies their sound and then subtley throws an Egyptian twist here and there. You get the intensity of
"Raped by the Devil", the dark and driving
"Broken Wings". There's the love letter to her homeland on
"Norway", a brooding gothic track that shines a little spiral of light on the proceedings for
"Queen of Light".
"The Calling" sees Helena breaking out some fascinating vocals that really capture the imagination.
"Fly Like the Wind" is a power packed driver and
"Missing You" is the obligatory token ballad.
Then there are songs that seem to be chucked on here simply to annoy the listener.
"Fata Morgana" is like a cat slaughtering orgy on the desert wastelands of Egyptian times. The shrieks, howls and screeches seem like someone threw one of the worshipped kitties off the top of the Sphynx. There are some sitar-ish moments here to put an even more chingy twist to the screechings.
"Abyssum" is pompous and porous. Originality flees like a breath in the night and leaves a rather typical brooding bombast piece in its wake.
However
"Facing Reality's" delicate introspective side and the thunderous atmosphere of
"Mirror" manage to offset the bleaker tracks of the cd. It brings a sense of balance to what would otherwise be a really wandering disc. So just when it seems that everything is really sucking and the whole overblown symphonic direction is beginning to feel more than just a little bit fake,
Imperia throws in a song to divert your attention and bring you back to actually liking the cd again, as opposed to loathing. Its a tightrope that in all honesty, shouldn't be one any band has to walk, but they do and keep threatening to fling themselves off the edge by such cringe worthy, shovel full of crap as
"Fata Morgana". They may be able to pass this schizophrenic song off on the wrist slitters as being 'daring' and 'daunting' and 'in touch' with your gothy side, but - give me a break. The song is horrible, falling into one direction just to pick itself back up and land face first in another. Helena's vocals are unconvincing too.
And that brings us to Helena herself. Some people love her. A creepy love, to the point of idol worship. Others carry that torch of burning hatred. Its because she can either sound really wonderful, soothing, soaring, a brilliant shining star, and in other cases she is the most annoying singer in the universe. Like scratching jagged nails on a broken blackboard. The humor in this, is that she moves between being a stellar angel to a directionless demon from one heartbeat to the next. So the whole album has this unevenness to it thanks to the patterns of their vocalist and the songs which work around her tonal and mood swings.
All in all
Imperia's
"Queen of Light" will deliver you an album of decent lite-goth toned power metal and the femme fatale bonus of Helena layered on top of that. If she's your bag of tricks that tickle the fancy, then
Imperia's cd will be lapped up like Hawaiian Delight. Given, there's not alot that's groundbreaking, but the disc is quite solid, with the overall picture in consideration. There are a handful of songs that are just kind of there for the ride, and others that border on sheer annoyance. However, those into Epica,
Nightwish, and other similar bands should atleast be entertained by
Imperia's style and rounded vocals. A much more fluid album than the predecessor, "Ancient Dance of Qetesh" but also lacking a good chunk of the debut's individuality.
Written by
Alanna Wednesday, July 4, 2007
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