Escape from Twilight

Emerald Sun are recycling power metal here. That's nothing new since I've heard countless bands and albums who do that and end up getting nothing more from me but second-hand embarrassment. Makes me wonder how many of these I haven't heard... Anyway, ES hail from Greece and 'Escape from Twilight' is the second edition of their debut full-length album. I only have this one which I got for a very cheap price about a decade ago. I'm doing some shelf-cleaning, and I picked this up. What happened? Let's find out!

ES go from happy vibes to heroic stuff, and to some darker vibes, as is finely illustrated by the absolutely awesome cover artwork. The band go many ways, and mix big amount of mostly legendary bands in their music. This is one of those "oh, this sounds like that album, and that sounds like this band" albums. The main thing that makes ES so much better than those failed bands in power metal circles is the fact that this sounds like it's coming from their hearts. They do not ape it, they live it. Looks like they have just released their 6th album, and that shows their passion and love for this all. I do not like the most foul-smelling, maggot crawling cloister cheese, and ES definitely stay beyond that line.

I am going to pick up some bits and bobs around the album to depict the band's approach. So there will probably be something left out, I'm sure about it, but here we go. After a cheesy introduction, 'Scream out Loud' goes into 1980's Helloween gear: It has that 'Eagle Fly Free' vibe written all over it with majestic melodies via lead guitars and royal keyboards, backed by tight rhythm guitar and rhythm section work, with some soaring vocals. 'High in the Sky' adds some Scandinavian flavours in, tributing Stratovarius (as generally everything neoclassical on the album) and Hammerfall. Gentler parts on songs like 'The Traveller' and Freedom Call-ish 'Eyes of Prophecy' bring in 1970's vibes à la Scorpions and Rainbow; then again, mini-epic 'Emerald Sun' contains a very Iron Maiden-esque slow part, like coming from the epic 'Alexander the Great'! 'The Story Begins' has that bard-like Blind Guardian aura to it with its fantasy mood (with added flute/whistle sounds and acoustic guitars galore). And without any surprise, the end comes with a soft piano-driven ballad, which sounds a bit too AOR for this album. But before that, we get shredding 'H.M.', an anthem for heavy metal, which happens to be anything but embarrassing.

Loads of rapid riffing, huge lead guitar melodies, tasty soloing, and varying and distinct bass guitar work (if you love Michael Grosskopf or Steve Harris, you're going to love this) from stringed instruments. The drums offer anything from fast double kick drumming to slower, more loose beats. The keyboards fluctuate, suiting with the moods, and let's not forget that able guitar-keyboard solo dueling. The vocals are like a mixture of Helloween and Gamma Ray veterans Michael Kiske, Kai Hansen and Ralf Scheepers, plus Freedom Call's Chris Bay, so high register work is on the menu a lot, but also is some yelping which does not get too annoying anyway. Most of the lyrics are about real life experiences, but there's always a small space for fantasy here and there. There's so much small tricks and variations in everything, that performances can be called as adventurous and "breathing with the flow".

'Escape from Twilight' is a very tastefully created piece of power metal. It is, mostly very, catchy, but the songs hardly follow that basic verse-bridge-chorus-repeat structure: There's twists in these tales and very nicely it all conjugates. Everything was credited for the whole 6-piece band, so even more kudos to them for this rather massive opus, that came out as sensible and not filled with tangled tales.

Well, I think it is time for me to start checking out those other albums now... Shame on me!

(Originally written for ArchaicMetallurgy.com)

There are certain bands that will take a style that has been written off as passé and bring it back into prominence merely by doing it right. Innovation is not high on the priorities of such young acts, but instead reaffirming the power of an existing genre that still has many songs yet to be dedicated to it. These bands avoid the novelty act or one-trick pony approach of some in order to gain widespread notoriety and instead put themselves forward as a reserved conservative act with a freshness measured by their ability to write an excellent song rather than throwing out as many gimmicks as they can into an 8 minute epic.

Emerald Sun qualifies as one of these bands on every level; as their Limb Music debut “Escape from Twilight” typifies the powerful yet established approach of the late 80s and early 90s power metal approach of German acts such as Mania and Abraxas. Most make comparisons to Keepers of the Seven Keys era Helloween, and there is some merit to this charge, but unfortunately most critics tend to stop there. Like all sub-genres of metal, power metal has evolved in many respects, particularly in the role of the keyboardist thanks to the influence of acts like Stratovarius and Sonata Arctica. Not being married completely to the German model, these Greek born metal masters have done well to dig into the Finnish and Italian styles as well.

The power of this band mostly centers on the songwriting, as Emerald Sun elects to keep their opuses compact and symmetrically structured. Even in the case of their complex self-titled instrumental composition, you get the sense of a musical story being told with an exposition, climax and resolution. The lyrics tend to vary from the epic fantasy stories often heard out of Iron Fire and Fairyland like the melodic storybook anthem “Sword Of Light”, to the hail to metal approach common to Dream Evil and Metalium found on their galloping, thrashing, riff happy power metal anthem “H.M.”.

Ultimately the band is at their best when they go for the late 80s Helloween with a hint of Freedom Call approach of fast and triumphant power metal. “Scream Out Loud” and “High In The Sky” have riveting choruses and dense guitar layered atmospheres with keyboard rich backgrounds that result in a thunderous celebration, lead on by the pipes of Jimmy Santrazami, who boasts a similar range and sound to that of Helloween legend Michael Kiske, with a little touch of Geoff Tate. The album’s title track is pretty riff happy, almost to the point of being thrash-like in the early Agent Steel fashion at the beginning, until settling into yet another epic anthem. Perhaps the most original and progressive work on here is their self-title instrumental “Emerald Sun”, which has some elements of that otherworldly sound that one might expect out of Communic.

While “Escape from Twilight” mostly listens like a standard German power metal album with some strong Finnish elements, there is also a small amount of folk influences that creep in and out of certain songs, harkening to less conventional power metal acts such as Blind Guardian and Falconer, particularly noticeable on “The Story Begins” and to a lesser extent on a few other songs. Likewise, although the similarities to Helloween’s Keeper albums is often noted, the closing ballad “Not Alone” has some “Pink Bubbles Go Ape” and “Chameleon” elements mixed in, which tilts the band ever so slightly towards the Edguy approach to ballad composition. In this respect, the band’s somewhat limited eclecticism works against them as disrupts what is otherwise a perfect flow from start to finish.

For a band that has not been in mass circulation for very long yet being in existence in one form or another for almost 10 years, it can be plainly stated that Emerald Sun are newcomers to the worldwide power metal market. They have succeeded in putting out the best album by a new act in 2007, out classing the current releases of Freedom Call, Sonata Arctica and a few other longer established acts. For all the ridicule that the power metal genre receives in most other quarters as an allegedly over-hyped and one-dimensional fad that has somehow managed to not go away in 2 decades, bands like this still keep coming into the fold and make the would be naysayer look extremely foolish.

Later submitted to (www.metal-observer.com) on August 31, 2008.

Again Greek metal madness! I think I've made it already pretty clear that Greek bands are totally my cup of tea. This band isn't any different, although it must be said that it certainly isn't a band I'd get real crazy about. For Greek melodic power metal terms, Emerald Sun has reached a pretty high level, creating a sound similar to that of Freedom Call, Helloween and Stratovarius among others. In other words, the truely popular and completely (overhyped) power metal sound.

But, it can't be denied that they succeed in bringing this sound in a very authentic way (as far as melodic power metal can be authentic ofcourse). With a voice like that of Santrazami, the band has every capacity to form Greece's biggest band within the genre. On every song I hear Stratovarius ringin' in the back of my head, and since I was a big fan when I began to listen to metal, this gets my total respect. The band has preformed with US metalgods Omen and NWoBHM top of the bill Grim Reaper, which is the beginning of a very promising career. This band is everything but original, though in this genre trying to be original is a very risky step to take, 'cause most bands fail miserably. Maybe that's why they played it safe and learned to reproduce the sound of the masters in the genre on all levels, before making their actual debut. They did a good cause, 'cause this album is worth being called with the stuff I've mentioned before. Even the titles of the songs are obvious; "High in the Sky" and "Escape from Twilight" are pure Stratovarius stuff, while "Sword of Light" goes forth to Rhapsody-like material. But also musically; "The Story Begins" is a magnificent ballad that reminds of Freedom Call's "Turn Back Time" and even they're most popular song "Scream Out Loud" calls out to so many resemblances of HammerFall's "Legacy of Kings". No, nothing original, but so worth to check out if you're into the genre. Some aspects are also a bit more irritating, like for example the keyboards in "Eyes of Prophecy", though this can't withhold you from seeing the excellent end product.

Is it because they're Greek that I give this band the benefit of the doubt? Or is it because I've spend a lot of time in listening this album over and over again? Both questions can be answered affirmatively, but that doesn't change anything about the fact that this melodic power metal band has proven himself worthy. The vocals sound like they're already so experienced in the genre, the use of (most) keyboards are chosen on perfect times and in perfect compositions, and the other musicians are completely anticipated on eachother. If you love this style of metal, the chances you will find this one of the better releases of this year, are pretty high!

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