CD Review: Elmsfire - Thieves Of The Sun

Written by Colin McNamara Thursday, 01 March 2012 13:41

Artist: Elmsfire
Title: Thieves Of The Sun
Genre: Melodic Heavy Metal
Release Date: 24th February 2012
Label: Massacre Records

Album Review

‘Thieves Of The Sun’ is ELMSFIRE’S debut full length and is a fresh sound of Fantasy/ Melodic Metal that will surely appeal to those who like Viking or even Power Metal bands. The music is very guitar focused but not over the top like some Progressive Metal bands can be with the keyboards set to a certain level of ambiance without overshadowing, or being overshadowed, by the other instruments. Vocally, the music is a mix of clean singing and “group” vocal choruses that will make listeners feel like this kind of music can be performed on a stage or even in a tavern. The entire storytelling power behind the music is highly evident, especially in the opening track ‘Towards The Gates Of Hercules’. Other tracks feature more of a “growling” tone but not as deep as in Death Metal- rather more of a rasp- that adds a haunting aspect to the “spoken word” format of the vocals, such as on ‘Stormchild’. Here the keyboards have a bit more life to them as well after each of the chorus section, adding more of a symphonic and dramatic flair to the music.

As the album progresses on listeners will notice that it is very easy to access the music without feeling things are too crazy or as if they are being put to sleep. The only real “slow” song here is ‘Escape’ but even here the drums keep things loud enough and instead of being “ballad like”, the music is more gothic, darker, and will surely send some chills down the spine instead of feeling like a cliché Power Metal ballad. ‘Taipouri…’ is a bit of a fun listen which brings back that whole “storytelling” aspect on the vocal side with some playful guitar tones and tries to break away from the usual Progressive/ Melodic Metal format that listeners might have heard so far. And then of course the title track closes the show with a driving rhythm and subtle melodies to close the album on a strong note, but doesn’t go out with a gigantic bang as opposed to more a subtle “thank you, come again” kind of tone. It’s hard to say what listeners will take away from this- they won’t really feel depressed or angry as far as emotions go by listening to ‘Thieves Of The Sun’. However, something about the lyrics and tone of the instruments and vocals are captivating and bring ELMSFIRE to be more than just a generic Melodic Metal band. It is definitely worth checking this out if one enjoys music for the story behind it as opposed to sheer technical skill on the instruments, which ELMSFIRE seem to do just fine at as well.


Tracklist

01. Towards the Gate of Hercules - 1:51
02. Worth a Tale - 5:44
03. Eolian - 4:30
04. Stormchild - 5:59
05. Escape - 5:53
06. Ahab - 7:05
07. Taipouri Ake Tonu Atu - 6:34
08. Thieves of the Sun - 6:41


Line-up

Erdmann - Vocals
Doro - Guitar
Germano- Guitar
Fritz - Bass
Morten - Keyboards
Patrick - Drums


Website

http://www.elmsfire.info/elmsfire/


Cover Picture




Rating

Music: 8
Sound: 8
Total: 8 / 10


Buy the album here!