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EmOcean is the
second release of the German vocalist
Hubi Meisel. Never have I had the
chance before to listen to his previous
work "CUT" but from what
I know it contains covers from Hubi
favorite songs from the 80's, so I
guess that "EmOcean" could
sensibly considered as his "debut"
solo release, or at least that's the
way I like to see it. Nevertheless
I'm pretty sure that every one of
you, familiar with power and progressive
metal music, must already know Hubi
Meisel from his previous cooperation
with Dreamscape and his noticeable
work on the vocals for their album
"Very". You do? Well to
tell you the truth this information
slept my mind, although "Very"
is a really good album and I used
to enjoy listening to it. That's why
I didn't pay the proper attention
to the newsletter I received from
Hubi, almost a month ago, regarding
EmOcean's release.
For my good luck
though he decided to send a promo
to a really good friend of our site,
who kindly passed it to us for a review
(I'm referring to Makis from the Monolith
webzine). By the start of the spin
you can immediately understand what
"EmOcean" is about. A blend
of melodic power and progressive metal
elements, resulting to mainly mid
tempo songs, with a really mesmerizing
and at the same time relaxing atmosphere,
created mostly by the excellent work
on the keyboards. The concept of the
album refers to the underwater world
and its mysteries and to be more specific
is dealing with the Bermuda Triangle,
Sargasso Sea and Atlantis. The very
good work on the guitars, which is
often clearly influenced from Conception's
amazing music and less often from
Dream Theater, turns out to a variety
of sharp and melodic riffs that together
with the halcyon keyboards are enforcing
this constant feeling of relaxation.
Just imagine "EmOcean" as
the characteristic sound of a peaceful
and undisturbed ocean. But make no
mistake; it still remains a metal
album with bursting and powerful moments.
I have two objections
though on this release. First of all,
although the production is above average,
it really fails to elevate the whole
project the way it should and reveal
it's full potential. The same goes
for the vocals and this is very strange,
because Hubi, except from an inspirational
composer, is really an excellent singer
above all, but for a reason beyond
my understanding he sings very weakly
and in a very short range as if something
was preventing him from revealing
his singing skills. Apart from that
"EmOcean" is surely a very
good example of melodic power metal.
It's definitely not what you would
call a masterpiece, but you should
undoubtedly place is high on the list
of your future purchases. Trust me
on that.
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