Phoenix Aflame

It has been better than two decades since the conception of female fronted symphonic metal came blazing out of Europe like a proverbial Phoenix, burning itself out through multiple monikers every several years yet enjoying a seemingly infinite number of rebirths under new names. It is altogether fitting that one of its more recent adherents, and a strong one to boot, would hail from the American southwest not far from the very city that bears the legendary bird's namesake. Thus stands Insatia, a band that was one of Arizona's better kept secrets until the unveiling of their sophomore effort Phoenix Aflame, with the backing of the largely Greek-based Pitch Black Records and sporting a stylistic inclination that is highly familiar, yet not bereft of a distinctive personality. Adorned by a cosmic rendering of a winged nymph (modeled by the band's vocalist) wreathed in blue flame amid a sea of stars and various celestial bodies, it is an album that immediately commands attention before the first note rings out, promising a highly contemplative and deep auditory experience.

The general ebb and flow of this anthology of burning anthems has a storybook-like quality to them, mirroring a number of tendencies quite common to the older European approach to the style. At its onset, things resound in a highly serene fashion with a brief overture in "Land Of The Living", conjuring up some familiar territory to what kicked off Nightwish's Once, though as things progress a more woodland green character in line with said band's 1997 debut Angels Fall First. When things move into full length song territory, there is a concise character at work here paralleling familiar bands in Visions Of Atlantis and Serenity (a fitting eventuality as several musicians from said bands took part in the recording process) to the AOR-infused power metal sound typified in recent Timo Tolkki projects and the regular output of Frontiers Records of late, particularly those associated with Magnus Karlsson. It's a generally simple and predictable package from a songwriting standpoint, though with a few needed twists in the instrumental department like the violin sounds heard on "Sacred" and Christopher Amott's fret board gymnastics on "Memory Of A Sapphire".

Though a complete package that showcases a talented display by all instrumentalists in congress, this band's truly awe-inspiring element is lead vocalist and lone founding member Zoë Federoff. Her voice has an airy, angelic quality that is highly reminiscent of Within Temptation singer Sharon Den Adel, yet with a slightly more triumphant quality that provides the needed power to cut through the dense array of symphonic keyboard and screaming guitars that adorn most of these songs. This duality of power and sweetness is best displayed on more exposed songs such as the super catchy half-ballad and duet with Apollo Papathanasio "Not My God" and the folksy acoustic number "Velvet Road", which sounds a fair bit similar to something that Blackmore's Night might conjure up. All the same, things are truly at their collective best when the band throws out molten shards of power metal from their flaming wings as heard on the more fast-paced "Healer Of Hatred" and the speeding riff monster of a title song "Phoenix Ablaze", complete with obligatory keyboard and lead guitar noodling and Zoë painting the landscape with dense vocal harmonies.

The reference to this band in the past tense and the metaphorical depictions of death and rebirth within the style were, sadly to say, not an accidental whim of the author of this review as this young project would count this as their swansong. It's a bitter pill to swallow, but also an all too common one, especially when the majority of the talent rests in one lone consistent member who is dogged by a revolving door of band mates. All the same, Phoenix Aflame is a beautiful rendering of the symphonic power metal sound as typified in the recent output of the likes of Beyond The Black, Midnight Eternal and Mastercastle, and one that provides a fair level of variety from one song to the next to compensate for a generally mid-paced and safe approach to song structure. The winds of change may have hastened this mighty fire bird's demise and left two solitary diamonds within the smoldering ashes, but the future is sure to see the rebirth of this sound in some future project involving Zoë's majestic melodies, may that day come on the wings of haste.