PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
‘Northern Strengths’ represents Rose Avalons debut venture into the world of Symphonic Metal, not that you would guess mind, so accomplished an album, that you would swear the Barcelona quintet had been around for many a year.
So saturated is the Female Fronted genre, that I approached this album with a great deal of trepidation, almost expecting it to be yet another uninventive, generic album that would succeed only in disappointing my ever hard to please ears. However, after a mere two tracks, I was completely hooked, not because of any major, progressive, ground breaking musical direction but in the overall delivery and performance. You can have the greatest individually talented musicians around but if they don’t gel, then it will undoubtedly fall short. Therein lies Rose Avalons trump card, as this album just flows seamlessly, five exceptionally talented musicians working as one well oiled unit, belting out some of the best Symphonic Metal you will hear this year, or next for that matter.
Opening track, ’Capio Mea Fides’, is a real stormer to start off with, a beautifully crafted melodic chorus against an infectious riff that in a live setting, would have a crowd jumping up and down in unison. Oscar Lelina delivers a killer fade out solo to end the track, and indeed, his guitar work in general on this album is nothing short of amazing.
‘Life’, whilst beginning at a much slower pace, soon cranks things up to rival its predecessor, the vocal of Rose Avalon always in complete command of each and every track, knowing when to hit the heights but also able to produce some very subtle and delicate moments that are an absolute joy to listen to.
The album does have a few welcome twists and turns, ’Courage And Pain’ for example, with its almost post industrial style intro, ’My Sad Martyrdom’, with its dripping water drops intro, before transforming into one of the albums best compositions, a majestic blend of ethereal, haunting passages and down right dirty riffs that is hard to fault. Even the almost customary ballad in the form of ’Crystal Tears’ is performed with such passion and commitment that it elevates itself to a completely different level.
The overall production sound must also be commended, slick and uber professional from start to finish, this has the feeling of a big budget venture, which I’m sure it was not but the result is as good as any of the genres elite could come up with.
All in all, this must rank as a seriously good debut album, if the band can promote this well, get out on the road and play the hell out of this material, then big things beckon.
A must for all fans of Female Fronted Metal in the Symphonic vein, highly recommended.
Track Listing;
1. Capo Mea Fides
2. Earth
3. Life
4. Seven Hundred Mile
5. Courage And Pain
6. My Sad Martyrdom
7. Empty Hearth
8. Crystal Tears
9. From My Darkness
10. Sharing The Path Through Time
11. My Northern Star
12. The Moon Over
Rose Avalon are;
Rose Avalon – Vocals
Oscar Lelina – Guitar
Jordi V – Bass
Sergio Gonzalez – Keyboards
Albert Agullo – Drums
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