Twilight on Humanity

The millennial wave of European power metal is often pigeonholed as a fad of melodic and consonant excess, a time in metal's history where the speed metal meets swords and sorcery fad reached peak campiness. Though there isn't anything wrong with dwelling upon the lighter side of things, this notion that power metal is only defined by the bands who took the smoother side of the coin embodied in Helloween's Keeper Of The Seven Keys saga and Stratovarius' early offerings is mistaken. One of the best kept secrets of the late 90s was a small contingent of bands that were exploring darker and more aggressive territory in line with some of the more thrashing bands of the 80s USPM scene. To be fair, outfits such as Hammerfall and The Storyteller were showcasing an equal amount of Judas Priest and Accept stylings to complement their Helloween-inspired shtick of ironclad warriors fighting for honor and glory, but those bands in both Europe and beyond that were treading closer to waters normally reserved to such iconic 80s powerhouses as Jag Panzer and Omen were a bit harder to spot. Nevertheless, there was a strong contingent of outfits in Germany that were delving into the grittier side of the sword-bearer's rime, with Sacred Steel and Wizard being among the more prominent names in the late 90s, but in the United States, where the style was arguably perfected, it seemed champions were few and far between.

Nevertheless, even in the proverbial wastelands of the mid-90s North American music scene, there was a contingent of old school power metal acts looking to keep the art form alive, and one of these would ironically be a late entry into the millennial scene via Limb Music, a label not generally known for fielding this more aggressive side of the metal coin. Basically born out of a schism that occurred between fellow New York-based metal upstarts Gothic Knights and their original singer George Tsalikis, Zandelle was originally billed as an overt throwback to the 80s and released a string of independent offerings before seeking label support outside of America. Though already fielding an EP and a full length studio offering prior to 2002, their LMP-backed album Twilight On Humanity is basically their de facto debut given that it received more than a modest distribution and was fairly well promoted, though now the album is extremely difficult to come by almost 20 years after the fact. The iconic cover art of a lone demon with wings spread and a diabolical smile on his face alone betrays a very different approach from the one normally taken by bands on the Limb roster, one rooted more in apocalyptic imagery and human failure, though still ultimately tied into the fantasy realm when the lyrics come into consideration.

Relative to its contemporaries, this outfit does share some level of commonality with the general tone and tenor of power metal circa 2002. The vocal performance of Tsalikis has arguably the most obvious similarities shared with the broader scene, as his generally soaring and slightly nasally tenor range and frequent falsetto usage puts him halfway between Joacim Cans of Hammerfall fame and the younger days of Geoff Tate, a fairly fitting helmsman for a vintage USPM approach but also one that is not far removed from the European strain. By the same token, the pacing of this album is generally fast and triumphant, with high octane cruisers such as "Warlords Of Steel" and "The Cycle" reminding heavily of the gallant odes to knights and chivalry heard on Glory To The Brave and Legacy Of Kings. However, a close examination of these offerings, along with more punchy mid-paced anthems such as "The Champion" and "Immortal Realms" showcases a riffing approach taken by guitarist T.W. Durfy that has more of a thrashing character to it, not all that dissimilar to something that Mystic Prophecy or Iced Earth might have been dabbling with at around the same time. It's something of a curious middle ground between these two approaches, though ultimately the melodic contour of these songs and also the fairly frequent usage of melodic guitar hooks and strategic acoustic passages puts this album just short of being power/thrash.

Perhaps the most distinctive feature of this album is its tendency towards drawn out songwriting and lofty storytelling, which feeds into an epic, Manowar inspired approach that is in keeping with the band's fantasy-based lyrical approach combined with a darker atmosphere. It's more the exception than the rule here that a song will come in at under 5 minutes in length, and even the shorter offerings such as "Immortal Realms" and the brief, keyboard rich interlude "Sunrise" have more of a vintage American flavor rather than a campy European one. The closest thing to a token ballad on here is the 7 minute journey through what sounds more like war-torn wastelands that is "Eternal Love", spearheaded by a dreary acoustic guitar line and a solemn vocal performance out of Tsalikis that soon morphs into a heavy-ended explosion heavily reminiscent of those classic epics heard out of Omen and Helstar back in the mid-1980s. But the absolute coup de grace that ties this whole album together is the massive, 12 minute title song "Twilight On Humanity", which cycles through 6 different musical chapters and goes from woeful balladry into a crushing speed metal craze that rivals the most intense moments heard on Manowar's The Triumph Of Steel. Just about every possible trope associated with heavy and power metal is on display here, including an assortment of fantasy elements into what is otherwise a purely apocalyptic story, and even some occasional death metal growls that predate the more commonly cited employment of them by Galloglass and Magic Kingdom.

Though Zandelle have been a semi-prolific force within the power metal world for 25 years now, they continue to be on the lesser known side of the spectrum, and it's a puzzling eventuality given the sheer degree of power and prowess on display here. It's unclear as to whether their association with Limb Music kept them from being exposed to their target audience, which was probably more ready to pick up the latest album off of Napalm or Massacre Records, or if their somewhat sparse output relative to the likes of Wizard and Sacred Steel put them at a disadvantage, to speak nothing for their being a North American act probably adding additional hurdles given the lack of an audience here. It shouldn't be this way, but given the fact that this album has not received a reissue, nor is it readily available on streaming services, it will likely continue to be among those unsung legendary albums of the early 2000s that might occasionally grace a collector's watchful eye from a used CD bin, but will otherwise be mired in continued obscurity. To those who crave the sort of power metal that was running parallel to the melodic and symphonic crazes but ran closer to the gritty, blood on the sword variety that originally bore the sub-genre's insignia, this may well be the best album that you've never heard.

As a label, Limb Media Productions has really cleaned up its act lately. Only a couple years ago they’d sign just about anybody who was moderately talented and played some form of power or progressive metal, things like originality and the ability to write a memorable song be damned. For this reason alone you’ve got to be careful with anything released on LMP before, say, 2003. That being said, the best release LMP ever had a part in was this one, Zandelle’s magnificent Twilight On Humanity.

In fact, this one hardly fits with a lot of the LMP catalog, being much more traditional, at times even thrash-oriented, in nature. Power metal is still an influence, mainly in the vocal department, but this release sounds much more like Iced Earth than it does Rhapsody or Pagan’s Mind. That is to say, expect a lot of solid riffing, often of the hyper-fast palm-muted variety, with some of the songs at times venturing off into a territory not too far removed from light thrash. Guitarist Anthony Maglio may not be a Luca Turilli, but that’s not the point here. Actually, I’ll gladly take this style any day over fluffier prog metal with genius guitar playing and not much else.

Vocalist George Tsalikis likewise deserves special mention. Sounding at times uncannily like the old Jacob’s Dream singer (who in turn was very Tate-ish), Tsalikis may come off as a bit strange upon first listen. Your experience may vary, but I eventually grew to love the guy’s voice. He’s all over the place on this one, everything from the soft ballad singing to some of the highest-pitched screaming you’ll hear. Every now and then we get some sort of grim voice/growl, but Tsalikis doesn’t do those.

As for songwriting, these guys have that part nailed. Stylistically mixing a throwback to maybe Iced Earth’s NotS days (not that fast, but similar in a way) with modern power metal, this thing pretty much smokes from start to finish. There is a sappy ballad in there towards the end, so if you hate that sort of thing I highly doubt this one will make you change your tune. Making up for that in spades, however, is the epic title track. Now, a lot of times it seems cliché to have that one epic track on there, sort of like a requirement for any power metal disc worth its salt. Usually they’re drawn-out snoozers, essentially the band saying, “Hey look, we can make a long song, too!”. Well forget that – this is one nasty tune. It’s got slow sections, super fast double-bass sections, great solos, stellar vocals, and even tells a moderately fun (albeit cheesy) story. Definitely the highlight of the album.

Other good songs abound – take the opener, “Warlords of Steel”, and “The Champion”, in particular, a very good one-two punch to start the album. A lot of the songs on here are even pretty long without trying to be, with the average around six minutes. They’re just exciting to listen to, and finish right about where it feels they ought to. One possible word of caution regarding the production – it’s about the sloppiest ever given to an LMP release, sounding nothing you might expect given the label’s image. Guitars sound very sharp but kind of dirty, if you will. The drums also are quite muddy, especially when the double-bass sections kick in. Actually, the whole thing almost sounds like a well cleaned-up live recording. If you demand crystal-clear production in your metal you’ll abhor this particular sound. I found it strangely inviting, lending a raw feeling that most shiny LMP bands today just don’t have. Come to think of it, I’m kind of worried about how Zandelle would sound with just such a shiny production. We’ll find out soon.

Kudos to LMP for not dumping Zandelle in their purge of subpar signings. It’s not the typical LMP band, but who really cares what label it’s on, especially when it’s this good? Very highly recommended to all fans of power, traditional, and light thrash metal styles. Yes, LMP released it, but it has as much to do with symphonic Euro metal as does Amon Amarth.