Artist: Dragonland
Title: Under The Grey Banner
Genre: Symphonic Power Metal
Release Date: 18th November 2011
Label: AFM Records
Album Review
For starters allow me to define “fantasy” as the hilariously ignorant view of the past that poses as plausible. On that front, DRAGONLAND have conceived a rather grandiose if not megalomaniac plan that consists of a map of the “primitive” world, that looks tremendously close to the one Robert E. Howard had created and a quest that takes its close affiliations from Tolkien. The band boasts that they have had the Gilgamesh and Homer in mind; hardly so, to the point I seriously doubt they’ve bothered to read those three books.
So, the Swedish DRAGONLAND (was it so difficult to find a more original name for their band?) have returned with the third part of their trilogy -the other two being ‘Battle of the Ivory Plains’ and ‘Holy War’ - offering us a tour into their world. In the opening of the CD they manage to remind us the reasons why they are considered as a great Symphonic Power Metal band; in ‘Ilmarion’ and ‘Shadow of the Mithril Mountains’ (especially the second one) the band has the breadth the genre demands and they have managed to express it in terms of music to the point that the ‘Shadow of the Mithril Mountains’ is an anthem that will please the Power Metal fans. But as for the rest, the band is drowning in shallow waters delivering for most parts an utterly predictable Power Metal.
Admittedly their struggle has an aspect of fun per se, at some points they even manage to come out safely either in ‘Under The Grey Banner’ or in the opening of ‘The Trials of the Mount Farmor’ in order to dip in again in the next song. Should I mention that some parts from ‘Throne of Bones’ are close to ‘Madame Guillotine’ from the musical ‘The Scarlet Pimpernel’? The problem of the CD is that it consists of anti-narrative techniques that prevent the climax to happen, and that’s a serious flaw in a concept album. The band decided to abandon the iron-clad warriors and the like and that’s something that gives credit to them. On the other hand if the whole point is to create the dark side of the Smurfland, sorry, but I’ll bypass.
Tracklist
01. Ilmarion
02. Shadow of the Mithril Mountains
03. The Tempest
04. A Thousand Towers White
05. Fire and Brimstone
06. The Black Mare
07. Lady of Goldenwood
08. Dûrnir's Forge
09. The Trials of Mount Farnor
10. Throne of Bones
11. Under the Grey Banner
12. Ivory Shores
Line-up
Jonas Hedigert – vocals
Olof Mörck – guitars
Elias Holmlid – keyboards
Jesse Lindskog – guitars
Anders Hammer- bass
Morten Lowe Sorensen – drums
Websites
www.facebook.com/dragonlandband / http://www.thegreybanner.com/
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 4
Sound: 8
Total: 6 / 10
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