Reunion

I thoroughly enjoyed this album. This resource says it is power metal but don't gear up for something along the more usual lines of a billion blast beats and arpeggios from hell. Solarus tries to craft its own sound and they execute it pleasingly well. The listener is introduced to the gist early on and this sound is prevalent throughout.

One of the main talking points is the guitars. There are a lot of strong deeper riffs that provide a lot of the foundation of the overall sound. Also blended aptly are some great melodies, and even many standard verses have elaborations or enough going on to keep the listener hooked. Added into the mix are some excellent solos too, they fit the sound really well and the quality of the whole package is a winner.

The other main selling point to me are the vocals. Solarus have a prodigious talent here, Sarah Dee's voice is incredible and quite versatile, being gentle at times like in the song "Shadows Lifted" but then more often than not is incredibly powerful. The album title song features vocals from Matt Marinelli which works great too. Moreover, I really like the synths deployed on the whole album, further carving their own identity and the added symphonic dimension is a welcomed one.

Overall, this an excellent debut and there is abundant quality throughout. My pick of the album would be "Ethereal Tears" which rolls all the aforementioned into a perfect package for the ears. I really can't wait for what they bring to the table next; however the bar has also undoubtedly been set very high. And I think this will definitely remain as one of my favourite albums of the year.