Waterlines

I first ran into Excalion on Pandora.com, and I was very taken with a couple of their songs, which led to my eventually biting the bullet and purchasing a copy of "Waterlines" for full retail price. Rarely do I do this, and this album was no letdown, worth every penny.

Upon first play, Excalion struck me as very melodic, and perhaps closer to American metalcore or hard rock. I quickly revised my opinion, however, as I realized that this is in fact more complex than a fair portion of power metal, and it is only because this album is so melodically memorable that it easily appeals to people whose preferences usually lie outside the genre.

The complexities lie in the potent vocals and the backing instrumental work. Jarmo Pääkkönen has an incredible set of lungs, and I think his work highlights every track and gives the band a certain powerful distinction. I was especially impressed by his blasts up into the high register, and the re-dubbing of his voice to create layered harmonies, especially on these high climactic sections. Instrumentally, the album isn't technically impressive, but Excalion makes it clear that technical skill isn't the only thing that makes a good album. Throughout, the instrumentation supports the vocal roller coaster that is the melody, and provides nothing if not a stellar musical pallette over which Jarmo soars.

The standout tracks here are "The Wingman" (an excellently crafted song that provides a great introduction to the album), "Ivory Tower" (featuring an impressive and catchy guitar hook that ignites the song and follows the chorus), "Arriving as the Dark" (a short, vocal-centric, incredibly catchy song. On the European version, "Yövartio" is the same song, but sung in the band's native Finnish), and "Losing Time" (with the obligatory epic chorus, possibly the most accessible song on the album), but no track should be skipped.

I will heartily agree with the other reviews here, Excalion are bound for something very good if they keep up the quality of this production. Time will tell, as their new album is due out in early 2010. However, I would venture to say that while not novel in concept, there is something very different about listening to Excalion next to most any other metal band. Perhaps it's the timbre of the distortion, the fact that the guitar is a bit more rock-like and less shreddy, Jarmo's voice, or the very modern-sounding production, but you can tell as soon as a song starts that it is them, and nobody else.

Overall, Waterlines is catchy, punchy, and delicious. It's got great replay value and should appeal to almost everyone, including listeners who aren't attuned to power metal.