Perpetual Twilight

Here's a frustrating one. My entryway to Axenstar was through its four-out-of-five, very-good-but-not-great magnum opus Far From Heaven. Many of the flaws of this record are corrected on that one, so if you're new to Axenstar, I recommend you skip this growing-pains-oriented debut record and go straight to the highest-quality material. But if you're already initiated, this is a curious, interesting, peculiar little listen.

Part of what makes it so curious is how blatantly Axenstar wants to LARP as Ecliptica-era Sonata Arctica on it; it's practically a tribute record at times. 'Confess Thy Sins' is an '8th Commandment' tribute; 'Perpetual Twilight' is 'Destruction Preventer' all over again -- which is hilarious because 'Destruction Preventer' was a Stratovarius tribute already, so we're talking about a tribute of a tribute. The rhythms to the verses, the guitar melodies in the middle section, the ethereal synth break -- it's all there, just -- when it's as good as Sonata Arctica, it's only for the same reasons the Sonata Arctica songs are good, so the primary effect of listening to these songs is to make me want to go listen to Sonata Arctica.

No, no, don't run away yet: the whole album isn't like that. I mean, yes, the whole album is drenched in pretensions to Sonata Arctica's glory; none can match the excellence of the true masters of early-2000s synth-drenched anthemic, all-systems-go power metal. But some of the songs here show a lot of potential for a band that just needed to find the confidence to break free from the anxiety of influence. Solid opener -- power metal albums like this specialize in rollicking openers -- 'All I Could Ever Be' is Sonata-influenced without being a blatant rip-off, as is follow-up 'The Cross We Bear', while centerpiece 'Enchantment' fiddles around with song structure a little and maintains my interest throughout, with a solid middle section featuring both synths and guitars that are worth mentioning.

Not all of the songs maintain my interest throughout. 'King of Tragedy' rips off from a different band, taking one of the most-stolen riffs in all of power metal, Nightwish's 'She Is My Sin', and doing nothing new or original with it. Furthermore, on this record, I count two heinous rhymes: 'fire' with 'desire' and 'sorrow' with 'tomorrow' -- this is the sort of sin I can only forgive on a debut record (and yes, I am a good Christian and will forgive them). Speaking of Christianity, the album is drenched with Christian imagery of sins, crosses, forgiveness, revelation, absolution, and so on. I don't think it's meant to be Christian-oriented, per se, as much as it's just meant to evoke ethereal and transcendent and solemn images and dreamscapes.

The biggest problem with this album, though, is the terrible, horrible, very bad vocal production. Everything else seems to be in line; even the bass is audible, holy of holies -- but my God, the vocal production is pure shit. The vocals sound hazy, too low in the mix, and often like the lyrics are blending into one another. This is not an idiosyncratic production choice bestowing originality and memorability to what would otherwise be sterile, slick mixing -- it's just amateurish. Thankfully, this would be corrected on later records, but a remastered version of this one is long overdue.

Anyway, this is of interest to lovers of melodic power metal only, and for Sonata Arctica fans who can't ever get enough of that particular sound. I happen to fall into both categories, but I know that if I didn't, this record wouldn't have much of interest to me. So I'll grant it a somewhat-generous 6.8/10 -- yeah, that feels right -- and get back to 'Far From Heaven'...and 'Ecliptica'; I want to listen to it now for some reason...

The debut album of these Swedes was released in 2002 while the renaissance of the euro power metal was at his peak. A lot of bands were able to getting record deals and the genre became overpopulated in a short amount of time. In those days there were tons of bands that just by playing fast and worshipping their idols got recognition and were labeled as the next big thing. Some bands were plagiarized to the maximum, based on their influence on keeping heavy metal alive in a time when grunge and nu-metal used to reign. Among these bands were Blind Guardian, Helloween, HammerFall, Rhapsody and Stratovarius. Well, “Perpetual Twilight” worships heavily to a band that was trying to find its own path at the time and, eventually, succeeded in bringing power metal to new and wider audiences. I’m talking of Sonata Arctica.

This album sounds like a less inspired and poorly executed “Ecliptica” by the aforementioned Finns in many aspects. First off, the production isn’t of the highest quality and, just like Sonata did, their sophomore effort showed a big improvement in that area. The opening track (“All I could Ever Be”) kicks off the record in a strange way, because, just like a live gig, the overall sound of the track is a little chaotic. I compare it to a live performance because it seems like their sound mixer/producer is having a hard time balancing the instruments. It’s like when you go to a metal gig and you’re anxious to hear the main band. They suddenly start their set and while listening to their first song you think: “Hey, this sounds like shit!!!”, but at the same time you’re certain that the next song will sound better as the engineers are working on it adapting what you hear to the venue and the amplification standards required. I guess you got the point, because miraculously from the second track the instruments seems more cohesive and the overall sound is better.

The lyrics deal with personal issues, some epic stories and a little bit of fantasy here and there. They are well written and the singer doesn’t have the typical thick accent that some Scandinavian singers have. His work shows that even the best producer can’t do miracles when the performers lack technical abilities. This guy’s vocal lines are 90% of the time multi layered because he just can’t hit the high notes. He sings most of the time in the mid range but when he tries to perform in a higher register he fails miserably. Sometimes the vocal effects make you think he’s not that bad, but in some songs his voice is so out of tune that’s annoying. He’ll get way better in next albums but he couldn’t sing in this one.

Once you forget for a little while the weak vocals and the messy production, the album has some highlights. “The Cross We Bear” is a very enjoyable track with cool lyrics and a well crafted chorus. The opener is quite good too if you can forgive its sound issues and the album flows nicely without having to press the skip button very often. But there are two particular songs that are total, unmitigated and complete worship to their idols. “Confess Thy Sins” sounds like a cover song because its opener riff, structure, chorus and lyrical subjects are identical to “8th Commandment” from Sonata Arctica. When you think it can’t get any worse you hear the last track: it’s a long epic song with multiple tempo changes and lyrics dealing with the nuclear menace and stuff. Sounds familiar? Of course, because the last track from the “Ecliptica” album is exactly the same, only it was released a couple of years before this. The rip off alert started to shine red the first time I heard it.

In conclusion, this album shows a lot of potential, because the songwriting is good, the guitar players are competent and the songs are above average in many aspects. But the lack of an own identity was very clear at this point of their career. Add to that the inconsistent vocals and the mediocre production and you get a CD that’s very flawed but still fun, catchy and somehow enjoyable when you need to hear some music that doesn’t make you think too much. If you’re looking for some challenging musical experience you need to search somewhere else because this is an album to hear while you’re cleaning your room, reading some sports news or just scratching your balls in bed. When you put full attention in this you start to notice its flaws and everything just falls apart. If you want to hear their best CD go directly to their sophomore album which is a massive improvement over this.

Yes. It's yet another power metal band using the same old formula, but this time something different is here.

The main difference is the vocalist, which is very distinguishable from most power frontmans because of his very particular singing style. His voice is slightly raspy, distant and doesn't have too much power. This is increased by the fact that his work, as said in the other review, is buried in the mix, which is a flaw, but I can still clearly hear what he is saying.

The guitar work is very good but the tone is not THAT heavy as, say, Gamma Ray. It's still good though, because the rhythm guitar and the drums are really tight and well achieved. The solos are nicely done, clearly influenced by the neo-classical shred that *you know who* created quite some time ago.

But the thing I like the most are the keyboards actually. They remain in the background all throughout the album, except in the obligatory ballad, but are clearly there and with a sound that is almost violin-esque. Very pleasant sounding and adds a nice and soft touch to the twin guitar distortion.

Of the 9 tracks, 8 are mostly an all-out speed attack, while the ballad is very slow and also a instrumental song. And it's one of the nicest and well arranged ballads I've heard. Of course it's cheesy, but in a good way. It puts a smile on your face (as the whole album does) with its well done melodies and textures.

Overall, an excellent debut for this young swedish band. But they would only get better with time.

"Perpetual Twilight" represents Axenstar's first commercial foray into the full-length CD market, after 4 years of existence. They use the basic power metal recipe, but do it rather well: Take one solid, standard power metal vocalist, mix liberally with solid, standard power metal guitars, add standard keyboards, primarily for atmospherics, and underline that mix with solid, standard double-bass power metal drumming. Mix all ingredients well, and make a CD. Voila!

Now, don't get me wrong - as the score should indicate, I really don't have an issue with a band taking a proven recipe, and using it to the best of their abilities, without adding much of anything that is new. Axenstar, in this first effort, play good, interesting power metal, with all of what you come to expect from the genre. There are a couple of items that stand out - one as a positive, at least to me, the other is a negative, without doubt, and hence the score in the low 80s.

The CD contains 9 tracks, plus a bonus offering, and 8 of the 9 follow the above described formula with success. The 9th track is a nice instrumental ballad and fits in just fine. The somewhat strange, but positive, aspect of this CD is that it will put a smile on your face. Eh, you say - explain? This is happy, positive, fun power metal - there is no trace of hate, anger, or spite. Tracks such as "King of Tragedy" or "The Cross We Bear" could be called "King of Smiles" and "The Ever So Light Load We Happily Carry" - because there is no trace of tragedy or sorrow to be found. This, to me, is not a bad thing at all in this case - you will tap, sing, and smile, which is good.

Not so good is the production of this CD. The sound overall is solid, and you can distinguish each instrument clearly. The vocals, however, have been buried in the back, way behind the rest of the band, to the extent that you have to concentrate to really hear the lyrics. The vocals are good, and there is no reason to bury them - it seems a case of bad mixing, but it distracts and downgrades the CD as a whole.

Having said all that, the power metal fan looking for another fun and enjoyable power metal CD for their collection is well enough served.