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| STRATOVARIUS: Destiny | ||||||||||||||||||
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Finlands answer to the Power Metal scene, Stratovarius comes out rockin' hard. Thier latest and greatest offering, Destiny, is a combination of power metal at it's best, and progressive metal in the vein of Queensryche. Why are you even still reading this? Go out and buy this album now, if you don't already own it. Oh, you want to know more? Well.....Ok. Just let me start by saying I like this album a hell of a lot. Everything about this band screams professionalism, and the playing is just excellent. Timo Kotipelto's vocals remind me of a cross between Geof Tate of Queensryche, and Michael Kiske from early Helloween albums. This is the vocal style I am very fond of, so that alone gains the band mass points. The album opens with the title track, (for those of you with short memories) Destiny. A boy's choir starts this song with some very melodic chanting, and then the guitars kick in, at first just as a powerfull backup to the choir, and then taking over the melody from the chorus. After a few seconds this osng takes a familiar turn in to what seems like your standard power metal rifss, but don't be fooled. This song quickly turns in to a sort of prog. metal anthem, complete with judicious amounts of soloing, and many tempo changes. And it ends on a very rock-opera-ish note. Very cool. The second song,S.O.S (Save Our Souls) also features the boy's choir, and feels much like the first song. The bass in this song gives the feel of Empire era Queensryche, however. No Turning Back, and Rebel, the albums third and fifth songs, are pretty much standard power metal songs, fast, melodic and heavy. Not that that is a problem, 'cause that's what I like, and if you're reading this, it's probably what you like too. They are very good examples of the genre, so don't skip them. The fourth song, 4000 Rainy Nights, is one of those ever popular Metal Ballads! This song brings to mind Another Rainy Night by Queensryche, as they are very similiar in feel and execution. The sixth song, Years Go By, is also a slower song, but in more of the power metal way than in a ballad way. Sounds similiar to any one of the early Helloween slower songs. Song number seven, Playing With Fire, is very much an eighties hair metal song. Don't get me wrong, I like eighties hair metal, and I like this song a lot, but it may not be for everybody. It fits in on the album, but it is different from the rest of the album at the same time. Number eight is also a very Queensryche-ish feeling song, Venus in the Morning. It starts off with an acoustic section, backed by the keyboard, and moves in to a heavier power ballad type of song. Very good. Anthem of the World, track number nine, is another progressive-power metal rock opera song, and it pulls it off very, very well. They really should have saved this song to be the title track of thier next album, as it is a very powerfull song. A string section, played during the course of this song lends it even more melody than it already possesed. Track number ten is listed as a bonus track on my cd, and I'm not sure what versions of the album have this song, and which don't. It is called Cold Winter Nights, and if you don't have it on you rcopy of the cd, you aren't really missing much. It's not a bad song, it's just average. It's so average, that it really doesn't belong on an album by Stratovarius. These guys are just too good to be producing mediocre songs like this. Sorry guys, but this song is non-memorable at best. Over all, this is a very strong offering from a very strong band. The lyrics are all well thought out, and they add to the power of the music with thier meanings as well as with the way they sound. A very talented group of musicians, I will definately get whatever they put out in the future. (As well as finish collecting their back catalog.) I give the album 9X's, good job Stratovarius! (Out of a possible 10X's) | ||||||||||||||||||
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