Tales of Ancient Prophecies

Tales of Ancient Prophecies, the debut album from Swedish power metal outfit Twilight Force, is cotton candy. Fun, fluffy, sweet, but mostly devoid of substance. This album is another adventure through territory that Rhapsody of Fire, Ancient Bards, and Fairyland have already explored. Though there’s nothing on this album you haven’t heard before, it’s conceived and executed well enough to be worth your time if you’re a fan of this sort of thing.

Don’t let the fact that Twilight Force looks like a bunch of kids getting ready to go trick-or-treating in their band photos fool you. These guys can play, the guitarist and keyboardist especially. Daniele and Felipe are an amazing team and their songs are filled with jaw-dropping neoclassical soloing. Grandiose, catchy, and medieval-flavored rhythms abound between the verses, where surprisingly speedy playing often compliments the vocals.

The keyboards, however, are often a little too prominent. ‘The Power of the Ancient Force’ is the best example of this weakness. Though the song still has the fun, carefree feel to it that the best of this genre evokes, the keyboards sound intrusive rather than atmospheric and add too much sweetness, an issue that pops up on the remainder of the album from time to time. Fortunately, though, the interplay between guitar and keyboard is intricate and dynamic enough to make this less of an issue than one would think.

The singer is good though his style doesn’t differ much from the traditional power metal approach. His lack of prior experience with English can clearly be heard in his weird way of enunciating words, which might bother some people. Though he’s a good fit for the band, he hasn’t quite mastered the high notes yet, sometimes losing control of his own voice when he reaches the highest points of his range. Apart from these rare painful moments, he does a good job of evoking the feel Twilight Force is going for and on ‘Gates of Glory’, Joakim Broden from Sabaton makes a guest appearance, touching on deeper parts of the human vocal range, which makes for some refreshing variety.

Because Twilight Force embodies every stereotypical aspect of symphonic power metal, the album includes a ballad (Made of Steel) that’s just as dreadful as any other power metal ballad you’ve ever heard. Rounding out the list of stereotypes, there are also two songs here, both under a minute in length, that are just narration. Contrary to what you’re expecting, these moments are among the most interesting on the album because they’re delivered in such a cartoonish and overly dramatic way that I’m convinced they’re funny on purpose. Really the only trope that’s missing is the ten-minute-plus song.

Apart from some sour moments, this album is a fine example of soaring, Luca Turilli-inspired power metal and an impressive debut. It’s got all the right ingredients and pulls them off well enough to impress fans of the genre. Still, though, this is the sort of thing you can’t listen to when your friends are nearby without feeling embarrassed. Tales of Ancient Prophecies only aims to be simple fun in its imitation of Rhapsody (of Fire) and in that regard, the album is a roaring success.