Title: From the Ashes
Artist: Voices of Destiny
Genre: Epic / Gothic Metal
Release Date: 26th February 2010
Label: Massacre Records
Album Review
German formation VOICES OF DESTINY was founded in 2004 by guitarist Christopher Gutjahr and bassist Jens Hartwig and a bit later the line-up was supplemented with keyboard player Lukas Palme, drummer Erik Seitz and vocalist Patricia Riegraf. But in October 2005, Patricia left the band and shortly after her place was taken by Maike Holzmann. In 2007, the musicians recorded some demo tracks and at that time Lukas Palme added screaming parts to counterbalance Maike’s soprano that later became one of the peculiarities of VOICES OF DESTINY’s style. In 2009 the formation released EP entitled ‘Dare to Reach’ and took part in the “Youngsterball Contest” where it won first place.
The debut album of the quintet, called ‘From the Ashes’, contains 12 diverse tracks which are arranged very interestingly: Maike’s soft soprano is alternated with Lukas’s growl and screaming but he doesn’t overload the tracks with his vocals which is also the plus for the CD. Powerful yet melodious riffs and the expressive drumming set off the symphonic sound and rich orchestrations. In the lyric compositions ‘Apathy’ and ‘Not the One’ there appear some passages of the acoustic guitar that creates a heartfelt and touchy atmosphere. Of course, such scheme was already used by tens of bands on the world gothic scene but only few of them could clear designate their style and put in the forefront a number of their own distinctive features.
VOICES OF DESTINY skilfully blends the epic versatility of early NIGTHWISH, EDENBRIDGE or EPICA with the lyricism of WITHIN TEMPTATION and even BATTLEFORE, formation of absolutely another kind and that fact only extends the range of impacts and makes this young German outfit more interesting and attractive for surfeited connoisseurs of the “classics” mentioned before. Striking guitars and multifarious keyboards in combination with the growl typical for death metal make splendid and aerial symphonic metal a bit more accessible for an average listener. So I may say with confidence that VOICES OF DESTINY managed to mix the best elements of the genre in order to convert them into a unique sound which singles the band out of the stars in the gothic metal sky.
Tracklist
01. Ray of Hope - 3:15
02. Twisting the Knife - 3:33
03. Return from the Ashes - 3:23
04. Relief - 2:58
05. Icecold - 4:52
06. Apathy - 3:34
07. Endeavour to Life - 4:22
08. All Eyes on Me - 3:46
09. Bitter Visions - 5:01
10. Hourglass - 3:49
11. Red Winter’s Snow II: Blood and Stone - 3:45
12. Not the One - 3:35
Line-up
Maike Holzmann - Vocals
Chris Gutjahr - Guitars
Lukas Palme - Keyboards
Jens Hartwig - Bass
Erik Seitz - Drums
Website
http://www.voices-of-destiny.de/ / http://www.myspace.com/voicesofdestinylb
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 9
Sound: 9
Extras: -
Total: 9 / 10
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