Reviews

OBSIDIAN SHELL..'ANGELIC ASYLUM'

(Self Release) Reviewed 8th November 2010

A suitably grand orchestral intro sets the scene for this second album, but the first in English, by the Hungarian trio of Henrik Csató (guitar/keys), Gergõ Kiss (bass) and Alexandra Urbán (vocals). Then ‘Orphanage’ thunders out of the speakers like a raging bull revealing an up-tempo, all-powerful blend of Within Temptation, Sirenia and Cryoshell, with added prog, synths and electronica. The voice of heavenly Alexandra perfectly matches the music, a divine mix of Sharon, Ailyn and Christine. The band’s name means a metaphorical suit of black armour, when you listen to their music you don this shell of black obsidian and escape from the real world into theirs. Every song is utterly mind blowing and totally faultless, with champion’s league production, exemplary musicianship including loads of fantastic synth solos, excellent thought provoking lyrics, more hooks than a pirates convention, and catchier than a Venus Flytrap (a video for ‘Summoner of Wind’ is on the Female Voices blog). Most bands would give their right arms for a couple of these numbers, let alone a whole album of them, they’d have no limbs left. The icing on the cake is the 10 minute mega mighty prog metal masterpiece ‘Misanthropia 2: Eternal Darkness’, totally awesome. What makes this body of work even more remarkable is that it is the product of unsigned novices with no track record (just a few aborted projects) and no financial backing. They sound like a highly experienced and successful, professionally and expensively recorded band on Nuclear Blast, it is quite incredible that they have achieved this level of sophistication. Obsidian Shell should cause a quite stir in the symphonic and gothic metal community, and given the right push they can become major players on the scene. If you love symphonic, gothic and prog metal then you would be mad not to beat a path to their angelic asylum at http://www.obsidianshell.com/ where you can download this beauty (there’s no physical release as yet). All I can say is a stupendous, staggering 10/10 (Reviewed by Phil)

OMEGA LITHIUM..'DREAMS IN FORMALINE'

(Drakkar Entertainment&Sony/BMG) Reviewed 8th October 2009

"The Great Hope of European Gothic" it says on the sticker that is attached to this cd. After already picking up a good review in a UK rock/metal publication, now it is Ravenheart Music's turn to review this little opus from this Croatian band. To be frank, this is the kinda music that got me into this genre in the first place. With a huge production by Victor Love (of Dopestars Inc fame), 'Dreams In Formaline' hits the spot from the start, offering 40 mins of Industrial flavoured Gothic Metal to get your juices flowing, and not a filler in sight. And the vocals of the young Mya Mortenssen (did someone tell me she is only 19?) suit this kinda music admirably well. A flippin' good album, melodic and heavy...awesome stuff! Buy!! 9/10 (Reviewed by Dave)

ONE WITHOUT..'THOUGHTS OF A SECLUDED MIND'

(Lifeforce Records) Reviewed 7th January 2010

Sweden's One Without takes “The Gothenburg Metal Sound” and implements it into a fusion of metal, rock and pop. As a consequence, 'Thoughts Of A Secluded Mind' offers a mix of diversity & depth, with powerful brutality, catchy grooves and advanced pop sensibilities, that quietly catches the listener with distinctive hook lines, plus offering us the captivating voice of Catrin Feymark. Great stuff from beginning to end here, with the pace never really letting up throughout. Check out 'Farewell' and 'Separation' as two examples from an album that offers 12 tracks of high octane rock&roll;heaven. Comparisons to In This Moment and fellow Swedes All Ends spring to mind here. Great stuff 8/10 (Reviewed by Dave)

ONYX EYES..'DELIGHTS AND TEARS'

(Fire Zone Records/Black Rain Media Group) Reviewed 10th May 2010

Formed in 2005 out of the ashes of various other bands, this group from Germany perform a mix of Moody Blues, Mostly Autumn, Within Temptation, and Xandria, a blend of classic melodic rock and symphonic metal, with a touch of prog. There is one problem, the sleeve art is all rather nice, but someone forgot to put the credits in! No line-up, producer, writers, not even a band photo. There is a gentleman who sings on some songs who sounds rather similar to Justin Hayward, but without credits, who know, it might be him, unlikely, but possible? I’ll call him ‘Justin’ from now on, just in case. The lead mike is taken by Ines, who has a wonderful Lisa Middelhauve (Xandria) type voice, with Sören and Alex on guitars, Denis on keys, Mart on bass and Josch on drums. The quality of the songs on offer here is quite staggering; they really know how to write a catchy tune with tons of melody, lots of lovely instrumental bits, and hooks big enough to land a whale. It opens with the grand orchestral ‘Persephone’s Light’, then comes a brace of superb rockers, ‘Under the Same Sun’ and ‘The One’, followed the awesome twosome of the ridiculously catchy ‘Ask’ featuring ‘Justin’, and their staggering signature tune, ‘Onyx Eyes’. We move onto ‘Justin’s’ showcase on the melodic progger ‘Hopes’, the Egyptian flavoured ‘ Purple Rivers’ and the Ines and ‘Justin’ power ballad ‘Siren’. Finally we get the dramatic ‘Your Fear’, an interlude, and the final symphonic metal flourish with ‘Lost in the Past’. There is also a dreamy, electronica version of ‘Ask’ as a bonus track, which would make a great single. This is a top quality, professionally recorded album that will appeal to wide range of melodic rock / symphonic metal fans, and is widely distributed, you should be able to find it on Amazon and various other outlets, their Myspace is www.myspace.com/onyxeyes . You will certainly find far more delights than tears, 9/10. (Reviewed by Phil)

OPERATIKA..'THE CALLING'

(Scarlet Records) Reviewed 18th December 2008

Some of us yearn for the Nightwish of old. Ok, I like the current Nightwish. However, the stories of Anette walking of stage in Brazil in tears because of the smokey atmosphere do not quite cut it with me. I am sure Tarja would not have stormed of stage complaining of cigarette smoke in the venue. However, I digress, New Jersey's Operatika are a symphonic metal band in the Nightwish (of old) mold, and I enjoy this offering immensely. And so will any fans of the Tarja era Nightwish. 'The Calling' although taking influences from Nightwish, possibly has more in common with good old power metal a la Stratovarius or Symphony X. Some real cool guitars and keys on this release, with the stunning Slova Popova hitting the nail right on the head regards the vocals. And mentioning the keys, we have a female in charge of the keyboard dept here (Anna Dok), while all bass parts have been handled by Michael LePond from Symphony X. I am not listing any faves here as this record in general is a power/operatic metal lover's sexy dream. Cool! 8.5/10 (Reviewed by Dave)