Artist: Sebastien
Title: Tears Of White Roses
Genre: Melodic metal/ Power metal
Release Date: 19th November 2010
Label: Escape Music Ltd.
Album Review
SEBASTIEN’S debut ‘Tears Of White Roses’ is quite an innovative album for these Czech Republican power metallers. Forged from the ashes of NAVAR, the band had a split and then reunited once again under the name SEBASTIEN with a fresh perspective on metal and a new vision. As a result, ‘Tears…’ is a very melodic, yet haunting effort, full of guest spots from numerous vocalists in the melodic and power metal genre that help make the album almost more of a super group effort than just the standard run-of-the-mill-starter offering that will only mildly interest fans. One thing to notice is the use of keyboards- they are a mix of progressive and gothic metal styling, which is something that isn’t always heard in power or melodic metal that mixes well together. Tracks like ‘Musee du Satan Rogue’ make use of them as sort of a spooky backdrop of vocals that just wail away, adding a creepy addition to the usual soaring riffs and solos that rage about through the rest of the track. Others like ‘Dorian’ are pure horror house / funeral charged melodies that, when coupled with the chugging power anthem chords, make a wonderful melodic metal track. The vocals also do the music justice; they sound a bit like the vocalist from EVERGREY, but strewn throughout the album are numerous others that add in a healthy mix of power metal strength such as Fabio Line of RHAPSODY OF FIRE on ‘Dorian’ and Apollo Papathanasio of FIREWIND on ‘Silver Water’.
While much of ‘Tears Of White Roses’ is heavily charged in the energy of the riffs of the guitars - as they are usually the focus in most melodic or power metal bands - but there are quite a few slow tracks too that help add a progressive / gothic atmosphere to the music aside from just the way the keyboards are structured. The dual piece ‘Black Rose’ features more than enough slow and mournful moments to make the music hit emotionally hard. ‘Part I’ is mostly classically oriented with the slow keyboards keeping that funeral atmosphere before changing into a more acoustic and melodic guitar sound amongst a piano with the vocals softly singing away, both in the foreground and in the background as well. ‘Part II’ is still foreboding with the keyboard bits, but features drumming and the guitars have a bit more prominence, especially near the end. The song is still very slow and certainly more laid-back compared to all the other tracks, but its flow of how smooth the track transitions throughout the entire song from soft to slightly heavier are fantastic. It really shows the musicianship of the members and how they can handle their instruments on both fronts. Rather than do a repeat of ‘Part I’, ‘Part II’ is much more progressive and actually seems to close on a “happier” note than the depression of ‘Part I’.
While SEBASTIEN have not really done anything new with their debut album as far as the power or melodic genre metal goes, they do a good job at making their music short and to the point with lots of good tracks and nothing really in the way of fillers. There are no epics here to create a grand symphony and wow the crowd, but there also aren’t any ‘half assed’ pieces either that either feel completely out of place or just lacking the depth that the other tracks hold. While some may mourn the loss of NAVAR, one can still hear traces in SEBASTIEN, and arguably that band only seems to have gotten better at what they enjoy doing. This is certainly worth checking out for those who like keyboard charged melodic metal that isn’t overdone and features a good balance of guitar work along with some very dramatic passages.
Tracklist
01. Musee du Satan Rouge - 3:48
02. Femme Fatale - 4:15
03. Dorian - 4:14
04. Remiel in Flames - 4:10
05. Tears of White Roses - 4:04
06. Phoenix Rising - 3:27
07. Voices in Your Heart - 3:28
08. Fields of Chlum (1866 A.D.) - 4:34
09. Lake of Dreams - 3:49
10. Silver Water - 5:03
11. Black Rose - part I - 3:14
12. Black Rose - part II - 3:01
Line-up
George Rain - Guitar, Vocals
Andy Mons - Guitars
Peter Forge - Bass
Radek Rain - Drums
Rob Vrsansky - Keyboards
Website
http://www.sebastienofficial.com/
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 8
Sound: 8
Total: 8 / 10
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