Zandelle is a Power Metal band hailing from USA, involving former
Gothic Knights vocalist George Tsalikis, their style is fast riff based Power Metal with epic elements and technical breaks.
Warlords Of Steel may not be overly catchy but its many diverse passages keep your interest fed, the clever drumming follows a very cool path and you can't deny the track's high amount of energy.
In
The Champion some atmospheric acoustic guitar passages have been incorporated to spice things up and it gives the song a cool ancient feel, a very good and highly dynamic song with an excellent guitar solo.
An epic mood is captured in
A Hero's Quest; sadly it has also been assigned with a tiresome refrain and some background choirs that seem a bit odd. The powerful twin guitar work lifts the quality an inch so it settles at around decent.
Lord Of Thunder races into the night without much aim, a song that lacks a general idea and a flow that has elements that stands out, sure it has a certain force but all in all this is just too plain to work out.
Immortal Realms is not quite as unsuccessful but it also has the same problems, the atmospheric slow mid-section part is good but overall I have quickly forgotten what this song was all about.
Delusions slowly starts up with sedative acoustic guitar tones before all hell breaks loose. Pounding bass lines and heavy riffing quickly takes it into fifth gear. The excellent and thrilling guitar solo spot is a clear highlight in a good song.
Eternal Love is the albums ballad, being a bit stretched out but with a fitting symphonic mood.
A welcomed catchy chorus sees the light with
The Cycle, spiced with melodic leads, a great riff based break, supporting choirs and high pitch vocals, a successful song indeed.
Twilight On Humanity rounds things off with 12-minutes of epic fantasy and it's not like you get blown away by stunning structures or phenomenal melodies, the song has some good parts coming from varied passages and powerful rhythm attacks but in general I lack a stronger binding clue.
I'm not too impressed by George's vocals and think he did a better job on the
Gothic Knights album Kingdom Of The Knights, they are solid enough and the high screams are great, I'm just missing more vividness.
As a general remark I would say that the musical delivery is firm and rather good, the advanced drumming gives an extra layer of excitement quite a few times.
Lyrically we are dealing with fantasy tales, heroes, magic, the fight between good and evil, the afterlife and romance, not exactly enlightening but it fits in rather well.
What certainly doesn't make the songs any better is the bad production, much too muddy, a too low bass and with an irritating distant overall feel.
This is not an unsuccessful album and even though there are many standard songs, it also has its moments. This type of music is just heard so many times before done much better, more interesting and with melodies and ideas that were of a more exciting nature.
Written by
Tommy Saturday, March 5, 2005
Show all reviews by TommyRatingsTommy: 5/10Members: No members have rated this album yet.
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