Symphonic Metal

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Violet Sun – Loneliness in Supremacy (2010)

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    Featuring a very bombastic (and futuristic) sound, today we have Violet Sun, an unsigned band from Italy. The band does a very good job in creating Symphonic Power Metal songs that are as good as any other signed band that plays similar music. But Violet Sun adds a wide variety of different elements to the mix, creating a very peculiar sound of their own.

    Our first comparison that comes to mind is with Edenbrigde. Both bands rely on a Symphonic Power Metal foundation accompanied by Female vocals. However, Edenbrigde relies more on ‘massive’ arrangements and some guitar virtuosity all courtesy of Lanvall. Violet Sun has more Progressive Metal elements in their sound, as well as clean Male vocals that sometimes hit the spot, but in other occasions sound a bit off.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Edenbridge – Solitaire (2010)

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    Out of the very impressive roster of bands over at Napalm Records, Edenbridge has always been one of the most consistent bands they have. Over the years they have released very solid albums, that feature well crafted songs and a very characteristic sound given by Sabine Edelsbacher the bands vocalist, and Lanvall’s music composition skills.

    The band’s bombastic sound is present in every single one of their releases and “Solitaire” is not an exception. The band’s Symphonic Power Metal sound is very well crafted around Sabine’s vocals, and the use of catchy melodies, as opposed to using overly complicated structures in their songs.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Rhapsody of Fire – The Frozen Tears of Angels (2010)

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    Four years have passed since the band’s last release “Triumph or Agony”, and now they are band with a vengeance. “The Frozen Tears of Angels” is one of the band’s best albums in their whole trajectory. With the same line-up since 2002, Rhapsody of Fire has recorded what is set to be the Power Metal album of 2010. Move over Avantasia, Rhapsody is back to take the 2010 title of best Power Metal album.

    Featuring their extremely symphonic sound, the band takes us inside their fantasy world with over 50 minutes of impressive musical compositions. The band’s sound is more bombastic than ever, and with their impressive array of vocal arrangements, brilliant keyboard sections, and guitar acrobatics, the band will surely please all of their fans and followers of the genre.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    The Breathing Process – Odyssey: (Un)Dead (2010)

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    Out of all the bands we have reviewed recently, The Breathing Process is by far the one that combines to most influences of different genres in their music. With a very impressive (but sometimes terrible) mixture of Black/Death/Gothic Metal with some Melodeath and even Metalcore-ish influences we get “Odyssey: (Un)Dead”.

    After their very impressive debut album “In Waking: Divinity”, we could not expect anything less from this young American band, but we also got a bit disappointed at some points during this album. The band fails to mix their elements together and ends up sounding extremely chaotic and redundant in some places.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Avantasia – The Wicked Symphony (2010)

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    After the lackluster “Scarecrow” we finally get the real Avantasia back with “The Wicked Symphony”, one of the two albums released by Tobias Sammet super band. As you all know the band features legendary drummer Eric Singer alongside Sascha Paeth on guitars, and Michael Rodenberg on Keyboards.

    Aside the super band behind Avantasia we have an impressive amounts of guest musicians and vocalists such as Michael Kiske, Tim "Ripper" Owens, and André Matos just to mention a few. The music in “The Wicked Symphony” is closer to “The Metal Opera” than to “Scarecrow”, making this release a brilliant example of what can Symphonic Power Metal should sound like.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Avantasia – Angel Of Babylon (2010)

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    Being the second release of Avantasia this 2010 (by one day of separation) “Angel Of Babylon” is much less bombastic and impressive than “The Wicked Symphony”, putting this release closer to “Scarecrow” because of it’s bigger hard rock influences. All the core musicians remain the same as on “The Wicked Symphony”, and the guest musicians/vocalists list is much shorter and a bit different than for the previously mentioned album.

    The first thing that came to our minds was that it was a great move that Avantasia left all these ‘weaker’ tracks in a separate release instead of putting a dent into the greatness of “The Wicked Symphony”. Having a greater Rock influence in these songs, the band looses a bit of its sonic power and goes slower than the first release, but this does not mean that the songs are bad at all; they are just ‘slower’.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Xerath – I (2009)

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    Xerath has been touted as a mixture of Meshuggah and the symphonic sound of Dimmu Borgir, and this is a very accurate description of this band in our opinion. Having an amazing movie score like bombastic sound they are here to blow people away.

    Usually when a band is blown up to sound like this they end up being a big disappointment but for Xerath this rule does not apply, this band is all of that and way more, “I” is such a rich album that I had to listen to it more than ten times to fully appreciate and digest all the layers this release has.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Eternal Tears Of Sorrow – Children Of The Dark Waters (2009)

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    After being blown away by the promising new track from this album that was included in their single “Tears Of Autumn Rain”, I was expecting this album very much, since the band usually takes a while to release albums.

    “Children Of The Dark Waters” was well worth the wait of 3 years, the album picks off where “Before The Bleeding Sun” left off with the track “Angelheart, Ravenheart” and it never lets go. The band’s unique symphonic sound is one of my favorite things about the band and I must say that they have improved it since the last album.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Fairyland - Score to a New Beginning (2009)

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    After releasing a great second album “The Fall of an Empire” this French band fell apart and all members left except for the keyboard player Philippe Giordana. Fast forward 3 years and “Score to a New Beginning” is released as a solo effort by the keyboardist and with countless guest appearances by renowned musicians. By doing this the album maintains the standard of quality set by “The Fall of an Empire” and takes the band to a whole new level.

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