 
The first power metal band that I really got into
when I was barely a teenager thanks to skater
friend Arran White, Can’t thank him enough
for the bands he’s gotten me into. Stratovarius,
I always thought would pull a huge crowd, yet
when I saw them last year at Wulfrun Hall the
hall was barely half full and people were sat
on chairs at the back which was severely disappointing.
The new album “Elysium” is the 13th
release from the Gods of power metal and is the
second album not to feature their long term guitarist
Timo Tolkki. There is a tint of straight up metal
to this album in places that comes as an unexpected
addition as it’s just so different from
their previous songs but it works extremely well.
Track number 1 “Darkest Hours” is
a perfect example of the metal twist as the 5
second intro is very heavy palm muting and standard
metallic drum line; the body of the song is still
their standard power metal sound with technical
guitar work and high pitched vocals. “Under
Flaming Skies” is another song with metal
twists, the main riff is quite heavy and when
it breaks down at the end it’s an extremely
beasty ending for a power metal song.
Not all of the songs are heavy and ridiculously
fast, as in usual Stratovarius style there are
some songs that are on the much softer side such
as “Fairness Justified” which is much
slower and more on the ballad side of the album
whilst retaining very nice guitar fills and solos.
“Lifetime in a Moment” combines the
ballad element within some songs with the heavy
technical on song writing with the metal elements
being integrated with this album all to create
middle ground and balance on the record.
The song that takes the cake for my favourite
track of the album has to be "Event Horizon"
it’s possibly the fastest and most skilfully
written song on the entire album and it draws
me in every time.
The final track of the album and title track “Elysium”
is 18 minutes long and tries to encompass every
element in the album into one track and succeeds;
so many different style changes and twist and
turns within it covering the fast, the slow, the
heavy, the soft and everything in between making
for a perfect ending track.
The band has now fully recovered from losing their
guitarist and has now settled back into producing
phenomenal music. I expect them to come back on
a tour of the UK with this new found confidence
and pack out many venues and impress me.
4/5
Review by James Webb
|
