Pathfinder: Fifth Element (2012)

Two years after releasing their debut album, Pathfinder released their follow-up which, to this date, is their last release.  No, the album is not a concept album about the 1997 science fiction movie starring Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman and Milla Jovovich.  That is kind of a shame, because that movie is awesome.  It is a concept album of sorts though.  I am just not sure of the story line.

This album finds Pathfinder honing their own individual sound, which appears to be more of a mixture of European power metal and symphonic metal, sort of a mix between Sonata Arctica and Rhapsody of Fire.  The result is an album that moves the band forward musically but sometimes goes a little overboard with the new elements.  A lot of times the riffs get completely drowned out by the keyboards and symphonic elements to the point that they are barely present. 

The vocals are kind of a mixed bag.  I did not talk about them much in the previous review because there was not much to say.  This time there are a variety of styles present.  All of the members provide vocals during the choral parts, but the lead vocals are kind of all over the place.  He usually uses a clean sound but occasionally tries to work in some harsher vocals, such as screeches that sound like a sillier Dani Filth (which is saying something). 

I do applaud the band for moving beyond simply aping their influences, but I think the symphonic elements are a bit overdone.  Also, the album is long again, though not quite as long as the previous album.  So once again, there is a lot of filler here and songs that are longer than they probably should be.  The album is fine, but I actually prefer the debut.