2007-04-09
Sweden's Cryonic create what can best be described as traditional metal, meaning – melodic and quite heavy, with a strong tendency towards power metal, with some prog elements thrown in as well. The album benefits from strong production values, solid musicianship and some solid, if quite traditional, writing.
Things open up nicely with the power metal anthem "Kings Of The Hill", some solid melodic vocals by "Bigswede", with the expected backing choir, it's not overly groundbreaking, but it's still a good example of the way the genre should sound.
The next two tracks are fine trad metal cuts, with the third, "Fireball", being one of the best on the album, the band seems to be able to create strong and memorable choruses, a definite plus in this genre.
The heavy handed use of keyboards pushes things a bit more into prog metal in the better parts, and into a bit of an overly melodic feel in some, gladly, it's more into the first. A song like "Promised Land" uses the keyboards the way they should be in this kind of music – to set a melody line and add some melody, not to be the main focal point. By the way, extra pointers for the guitar work, it's really quite Impressive.
Fans of extreme metal and more modern stuff will want to stir clear of this, this is as old fashioned and traditional as it comes, but for such an album it's a good example of how to do it right, big melodies, big vocal choruses, virtuoso playing with a lot of shredding, you get the picture, if this is your kind of metal, you're in for a treat.
Alon Miasnikov
