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If you're a fan of
neoclassical heavy/power metal and
your favorite groups are Iron Maiden,
Angra, Edguy, Avantasia and all the
other bands of the neoclassical metal
genre you can think of, then don't
bother yourself reading this review.
Just go to the nearest store or browse
to metalages' website and order your
copy of Theocracy's first album. Do
you think I'm exaggerating? Well I
repeat: ONLY if you are a fan of the
groups above or the specific metal
genre, then don't hesitate at all.
This is one of the best albums, of
this musical direction I've heard
this year. Don't be misled by my final
rate, because I'm not into this kind
of music lately. If I were, I would
surely rate it at least with an 9
or 9,5.
Now let's talk about
all of you that more or less like
this kind of music but it's not your
priority for the time being. Let me
give you first some more details about
Theocracy. The most important thing
you should keep in mind, is that (as
weird as it sounds) this band consists
of one person. He is responsible for
the composition of the songs, playing
of the instruments, orchestration,
drums programming, mixing and production
of the album!!! It's a miracle how
a person can deal with all of these
things on his own. To start with,
one of this album's main advantages
is the exceptional elevating production.
This is something you can understand
whether you like neoclassical metal
or not. Secondly, the things that
impress me most are the powerful rhythmical
riffs, the inspiring solos and the
melodic keyboards. Matt (this is the
guy behind Theocracy) managed to combine
all of them almost perfectly and the
final result is far beyond good. The
same goes for the lead and backing
vocals, so in the end you have a sum
of 10 songs that define exactly the
meaning of neoclassical power metal.
Oh there is one more good point, the
rhythm section, especially its focal
point, the drum machine. I always
get irritated when I listen this consecutive,
annoying sound it produces most of
the times. But things are a bit different
here, because Matt made it almost
"invincible" and as close
to the real thing as possible.
The only thing you
may not like are his obvious musical
influences. You will catch yourself,
during listening, thinking: "I've
heard this one before", "This
reminds me of that". Well, this
is not bad at all, if you think that
this is his first attempt. Just name
one group whose debut album reminded
you of nothing at all!!!
Conclusively I won't
say much expect this: If I had to
buy one power metal cd this year it
would be Theocracy's debut album.
The future belongs to Matt, and I'm
totally convinced about that. |
