Sign of the Winner

Take two helpings of Helloween (in particular the vocals and the fast-paced power metal facets), add one helping of Sonata Arctica (the orchestral, sometime epic atmosphere created by the keyboards), mix generously with everything you consider to be elements of good, solid power metal, and voila: You have "Sign of the Winner" by French band Heavenly.

Now, before the aforementioned is construed as criticism, allow me to add that I do not consider a band as bad, or boring, if they manage to take a proven formula and apply it with success. Heavenly have done so here, playing very good, enjoyable, musically capable power metal of high quality. The fact that nothing here has not been done and heard before does not really detract from this CD.

To elaborate just a little, the vocals are your standard (and I mean that in a good way, in that they do not annoy at any point), well-done, high-pitched power metal fare; the guitars are quite prominent, and the keyboards provide atmospherics, but are audible in their own right on ocassion. The drums deserve an extra mention, as they are just a cut above the often mind-numbing double-bass power metal madness (there is enough double-bass to satisfy anyone, but the drummer demonstrates ability apart from his feet). The production is very good and balanced - everything fits the bill nicely.

For those looking for an interesting addition to their power metal library, you won't go wrong here. Do not look for innovation, and you won't be disappointed - otherwise, a comfortable vote of confidence in this band's ability to exit in this genre.

This album represents the stepping stone between a sonically derivative yet towering debut in “Coming from the Sky” and the ultra progressive and riveting concept album “Dust to Dust”, an album that has yet to leave my play list after 2 years. When you hear the first release, you are almost lead to believe that Heavenly would amount to being a somewhat exceptional clone to Iron Savior with a vocalist who reminds at times of Michael Kiske. However, when you hear “Dust to Dust”, you hear a band that combines essentially power metal riffs in the Gamma Ray vain with the progressive songs structures of Dream Theatre and Symphony X, and vocally Ben Sotto has morphed into a master story teller dancing between sounding like f King Diamond and a bit like Rob Halford.

Frederic Leclercq and Charley Corbiaux trade leads with the best of them, however, at times it’s hard to separate them because stylistically they are quite similar. It seems that Corbiaux’s lead timbre has a tiny bit more bass in it and tends more towards sweep picking, but we see in several cases, most notably “Destiny”, “The World will be Better” and “Words of Change” that similar devices are at work. This is not a major flaw in the spirit of the music, but it is a distinction that separates this lead duo from that of such more established acts as Maiden, Priest, and more recent bands like Gamma Ray.

Maxence Pilo’s drumming is absolutely insane, as is the case on the other two albums that he appears on in the Heavenly catalog. Songs in particular where he shines include the title track, his rather interesting military snare beats at the beginning of “Still Believe” and his blazing beats of “Words of Change”. If there is one flaw in his playing, it is that there is not a lot of dynamic contrast between Pilo’s various parts, making him at times sound almost like a drum machine. However, this is not a major problem for this genre as the drum beats are geared more towards a metric approach to playing rather than the jam oriented work of Prog. Metal acts.

Ben Sotto’s voice is still in it’s evolutionary stages at this point, but he is beginning to explore the different timbre possibilities that are available to him. Pretty much every track on here is loaded with 2 and 3 part harmonies that were not nearly as common on the previous album. His softer falsetto is observable at the intro of “The Word will be Better”, the chorus of “Destiny”, and through out “Words of Change”. He explores his lower range on “The Sandman” and “The Angel”. But his most varied and dramatic performance is found on the closing epic “Until the End”.

Keyboard work on the previous album was mostly meant to either provide a timbre contrast during softer sections of the longer tracks, and to provide additional atmosphere. On this album, the instrument comes to the forefront quite a bit more. “Break the Silence”, the obligatory instrumental intro obviously has it’s fair share of keyboard work. But such tracks as “The Sandman”, “The World will be Better”, and “Until the End” have a good deal of prominent piano work. Thematic string sounds are also to be found on the title track, “Destiny” and “Still Believe”. But the biggest change on this album is the prominent harpsichord line on “Words of Change”, which is an early indicator to the highly progressive direction that would be taken on the album that follows this one.

Stand out tracks on this album include “Destiny”, the title track, “Words of Change” and “Until the End”. The other tracks are strong, but don’t have quite as many hooks and interesting structural elements to make them quite as classic sounding as these. If there is one additional diamond on this album amongst the other tracks, it’s clearly “The Word will be Better”, but it is a tiny bit long and many of the changes come off as a bit too abrupt.

In conclusion, this is fodder for the power metal faithful mostly, although there are some signs of a more progressive direction. This album represents a conscious effort by a band to establish it’s own identity amongst a high population of Helloween clones, which unfortunately in the past 2 years are becoming a bit too many for their own good. This success would be fully realized on the album after this one. If you like Gamma Ray influenced speed and you don’t have reservations about prominent keyboard parts, this album is for you.

Unfortunately, this power metal band from France has been lumped into the vast category of Helloween clones. And if you listen to their debut cd, Coming From the Sky, you can understand why. But on their sophmore effort, this band cuts out their own niche in the power metal field. Yes, they have the standard power metal sounds (happy choruses, double bass, etc...). However, they have improved on the songwriting and their performance. Yes, lead vocalist, Ben Sotto, can hit the high notes (sometimes too high). But, unlike the debut, where Ben seemed to be doing his best Kiske impersonation (which is not easy), on Sign of The Winner, he has more range and allows his voice to be more than a siren. See "The World will be Better" and the ballad, "The Angel. The title track is classic power metal and is blistering, to say the least. Another improvement on this album from the debut is the guitar work. Its much better. The leads are more thought out and seem better placed in the songs. If you like power metal in the vein of Helloween (but not a clone) and Stratovarius, then do check out this album from this promising young band.