The Snow White Rose of Paradise

Few bands have the first (and lasting) impression of Empyrean Sky. Mostly due to the fact that Empyrean Sky is not like most I have heard, their art has more value that surpasses even the band members themselves, which is what I believe music should do. No track here is considered to be filler, not even the two instrumentals that can be found throughout this majestic opus.

I consider the vocals to be the star of this release and I, being one that covets the band's vocal performance, have nothing but admiration for this band just by this one aspect. The vocals exhibit a quality that can be described as both angelic and devilish, the darker being, of course, the growl/screams that are extremely prevalent throughout this offering. The light comes in the form of beautiful clean vocals that remind me of NWOBHM or traditional heavy metal in general, though no other bands comes to mind, vocally, when comparing Empyrean Sky. The vocals are also constantly layered, often with both harsh and clean vocals accompanying one another,
though at certain points in the clean vocals do remind me of Geddy Lee from Rush.

The guitars do well to complement the vocals with the occasional acoustic/electric layering accompanying the rising, melodic riffs that remind me of early In Flames or Dark Tranquillity (though maybe not quite as unbridled). Solos do appear from time to time but seem lacking due to the rather epic nature of the music that came before it. The bass can be heard clearly and makes an appearance once or twice (such as in "In To The Depths" and once in "Love Poison" if I'm not mistaken). The drums are programmed but they do not sound the way drum machines usually do (nothing sounds overly mechanized when it preforms).

In conclusion, this is an outstanding release from a band that deserves much more exposure than they have already.

Highlights include the two aforementioned songs "Love Poison" and "In To The Depths" along with "Empyrean Sky".