Artist: Symfonia
Title: In Paradisum
Genre: Power Metal / Melodic Metal
Release Date: 1st April 2011
Label: IAM (Edel)
Album Review
SYMFONIA was formed only last year, which may be misleading to think of them as a new band, but these guys have had a music career before, many of them are ex-members of STRATOVARIUS, HELLOWEEN and GAMMA RAY to mention a few. Meaning that ‘In Paradisum’, their first album, you’ll be treated to a mature and sure-of-itself music and not an investigation of possibilities of a band’s unique sound.
The album opens with ‘Fields of Avalon’, the mythical place that seems to be holding a fascination of many. Here it seems as an invocation of a calling point, a beacon of light in the struggles of the song’s protagonist. The baroque keyboards that accompany many songs come within the half of the song and it’s an aspect of their music that I like. ‘Come by the Hills’ starts with impressive drumming, the guitars are speedily chugging along but are more subdued than in the introducing song, and it’s another song with affirming determination. The vocals are often joined in unison, which gives it a feeling of togetherness, a song that promises to be greatly enjoyed by their audiences when they go on tour. The third song, ‘Santiago’ is unfortunately the let down of the album, there is something wrong in the pitch of the high notes, they seem strained, even when it comes to the accompanying vocals which make the highs cringe-inducing. Let’s skip this song so the album will sound unspoilt by it!
Yes, let’s go to the next one - a ballad called ‘Alayna’. It’s seemingly stripped down, but less is more here, it’s beautiful and emotive song. With ‘Forevermore’ we’re back to blood-boiling power metal. ‘Pilgrim Road’ enters with those wonderful baroque keyboards speeded up to a modern tempo, the vocal give the narration some suspense before the song is fully unrolled. ‘In Paradisum’ has a heavy atmosphere start, slows down to a balladry part and speeds up again and gains in its visceral kick. It’s a great song with its varied sound and tempos, and layered feel. The accompanying vocals are a great contrast and match the lead perfectly; I enjoyed the added choir feel including female voices to them, which is not overdone, just right. The addition of the sample of children’s voices at the beginning of its second part is a nice touch too, but soon after that though it becomes spoilt yet again; the high pitch is just too much for André Matos. The song would have been one of the best moments of the album, but it simply is spoilt yet again by this desperate trying to reach where he simply can’t.
Let’s say - if you put Eric Adams there then the song would be perfect because he can sing those notes effortlessly! Or if just Matos realised that it’s better not to try when it’s just not your ability to, it’d have sounded better. Whilst the other elements of the song more than make up for it, so still... a great song, but what a shame I can’t say excellent... ’Don’t let me go’ seems to be a pleading manifesto of the band - they’re here to stay so don’t let them go! - but if listened to on a personal level it’s endearing too. It’s another of the slow songs with some added and wonderful symphonic elements. This band is very ambitious; they want to put a stake on winning the metal audiences worldwide. Have they got enough to push their rivals out of the way? If they’ll stop Matos trying to reach those annoying highs (let’s face it, sometimes he sounds as a cat squealing when you step on its tail), maybe? Though does this issue really matter? Who knows? After all even MANILLA ROAD was considered as a great band by many.
Tracklist
01. Fields of Avalon – 5.09
02. Come by the Hills – 5.01
03. Santiago – 5.54
04. Alayna – 6.17
05. Forevermore – 5.31
06. Pilgrim Road – 3.37
07. In Paradisum – 9.35
08. Rhapsody in Black – 4.34
09. I walk in neon – 5.44
10. Don’t let me go – 3.56
Line-up
André Matos – Vocals
Timo Tolkki – Guitar, Production
Jari Kainulainen – Bass
Mikko Härkin – Keyboards
Uli Kush – Drums
Websites
http://www.symfonia.fi/ / http://www.facebook.com/pages/Symfonia-Official/146334312081438
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 9
Sound: 9
Total: 9 / 10
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