First of all, let's talk about the album cover. Now, I could be wrong (though I seldom am), but I am pretty sure the band basically adapted an image from He-Man for that cover. In fact, having been a huge fan when I was young, I am almost positive that is what we are looking at. He-Man holding up the Power Sword in front of the Castle Greyskull. So, that is pretty damn awesome.
Now onto the music. Honestly, after The Witch's Curse, I was slightly disappointed with this release. I was kind of hoping all of the band's albums would basically be a rock/metal opera, and that was not the case with this album. These are much more straightforward power/heavy metal songs and they do not appear to tell a cohesive story. There are moments where the theatricality appears, particularly in "A Fairy's Tale", which features a few moments of spoken-word narration.
My disappointment in the lack of story-telling notwithstanding, the album is quite good. It is mostly slower to mid-paced, lengthier songs with a lot of melody. The vocals and the lead guitar mostly compete for attention. The choruses are infectious as hell, particularly on "Velvet Drawbridge" and "Lost in the Pages". They are not to the same level as those on The Witch's Curse, but they are damn good in their own right.
This album has been growing on me since picking it up. It is not what I expected, but the album is still very good. I will still be exploring the music of Dream Tröll, even if The Witch's Curse is more of the exception, rather than the rule.
No comments:
Post a Comment