2007-05-24
There are few female vocalists who can pull off a really good operatic voice with metal music; there are plenty of good operatic vocalists out there, but it seems the infusion of such a female voice with metal music just rarely seems to work.
Good thing then, that Imepria's Helena Iren Michaelsen has the right voice to be one of the few that can. The Ex-
Trail Of Tears, current Angel vocalist has one of the best voices in orchestral metal today, with only Ex-
Nightwish frontwoman Tarja Turunen and Ex-
Tristania vocalist Vibeke Stene doing something similar in the past. Michaelsen is a truly strong presence that actually dictated the music around here, the band's second release, which is something quite reminiscent of Nightwish – melodic, quite heavy, and with nice orchestral bits.
The album opens with one of its best cuts – "Mirror" – which has the right combination of melodic power/orchestral metal with the more pop-oriented melodies, it also has a strong chorus and some interesting riffs that keep this is heavy enough for most tastes. The guitar work as a whole on the album is very high quality, courtesy of Jan Yrlund (ex-
Prestige) and Angel's John Stam.
"Fly Like The Wind" is probably the best song here, and also the heaviest, it's nice when a melodic metal band such as this takes things into such heavy territory and are unafraid to use heavier riffs in such an album. The song is a strong contrast to the slower, softer "Broken Wings", which represents the part of the album which I didn’t care for as much.
Mostly the album works, as long as the grandiose melodies, the solid playing and Michaelsen's voice combine - it's a strong concoction. There are a few drawbacks, with tracks such as "Facing Reality" again softening things down a bit too much, but this really is a very fine release as a whole. A real treat for Nightwish fans, and which I actually liked more than Angel, Michaelsen's other outfit.
Alon Miasnikov
