My short review. I hope that we are one in a positive impression about the album.
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So, as I said before , I my expectations were overcome as I actually had no big expectations for the second sympho album of a metal band trying to keep maistream stuff. I was feeling myself an eagle from a cover of a Manowar with a tune “death to the false metal” tune inside.
Luckily, the album is a bucketfull of great music and since the first spin I can say only “wow, danke schon. Wunderbar. Sehr gut”.
“Pandemonium” - a track of Kauffmann and Baltes and ot gives a general mood for a whole album. Pure poweefull HM packed in symponic stuff. It gives big-scale energy and You suddenly realise that oechestra can give burning just like fire .
And , of cause, Udo places every note and sound he sings on its place while metal band and an orchestra accamanies him , escalating tention from from second to second and the track soon becomes an epic one.
Its just what Mark Tornillo misses - his voice is not weaker than Udo’s one and Mark really has good tembre.... but give this song to Mark and he will spoil it. He cant sing such presicely. Its awesome how Udo with his not such strong voice in is age still gives it to his best.
“We are one” - the title remids “One heart, one soul” track from Steelfactory album. But musically its a major track more like “ What a hell of a night” from the same Stewlfactory album. Still , this is a title track and it shows the whole message.
“Love and sin”. This is more orchestral music than an UDO song. This way it reminds me Nightwish stuff. Very unusualy for UDO and it sounds very fresh. From this track You have a feeling that this album is not a waiste of time but a real masterpeice full of energy.
“Future is the reason why”. Udo have had so many experiments in his carreer. Like Eugene Silin have said about 10 hear ago : “today every band that sucks can record a joimt track with Udo”.
And this is another experiment on this track for the first time - women choir. But this time it works. The track , as all the album” is “a HM with smile on its face”, rock rocks You and not tries to threaten You.
“Blindfold ( The last defender”- why is it called UDO ? What is it doing on UDO album ? Is this chick worth beeing here ? To me, it shows that ther is one Neon Diamond here , Herr Udo . His she-partner sing not more than good and she doesnot looks decent for a solo-track on UDO album. Still, I like that she is not turning inside out to look cool. She looks decent and she sing in a right manner as good as she can.
“Blackout” - the first instrumental track. An awesome orschstral play covering great solo guitar of Andrey. To me its personal track for him. Guiitar is not “in Your face”, it dissappears and appears again somewhere from aside in a fleshy sound and sounds very deep. This work of guitar is done in a style tahg Andrey did on his only album as a guest guitar in Epidemia band about 15 years ago.
His guitar here smiles to You, it brings You away and makes You slow down for a while thinking about eternity.
I should even say , that Wolf Hoffmann has a higher class than Andrey but a guitar of Wolf grims at your or it puts You into sadness, while guitar of Andrey shows You its smile.
“Mother Earth” - from this track, I got a feeling about this conception of the album. It is made like a live show where an anchor-man leaves a stage giving it up for b-stars ( girl-sihger, solo guitar player ) with their solo-starring tracks but the Anchor Man will surely return to show who is the boss .
The track is composed and produced like a typical UDO song and its great how its sounds with orchestra.
“Rebel town” - a coll rocking track, made in UDO style influenced by Judas Priest as to riff and in singing. Again, these Rebels sing by female voices and bring good mood , far from despair.
“Natural forces” - I can call it a filler but its a very good filler
“Neon diamond” - a good video with clear message. Saxophone on UDO album - now have seen it all
)) ... Soundpruduction looks like beeing different and close to Faceless World album.
And I still do not know how that girl with her good but slow and lazy singing has got a chance to be a part of metal album. She s not gotta be a part of it, she d better be apart of it
)
“Beyond gravity” - bagpipes really rules here. An awesome jamm of guitar, bagpipes and orchestra , the manner of guitar reminds me of Steve Vai. One of the best tracks of the album.
“Here we go again”. I always knew that Udo could sing rap or blues , like Joe Kocker or Gregory Leps. “Luce, sorry, Sven, I am Your father”. Thats how Sven got his place by the microphone. Actually what I hear in these duet is a good old singer and a low-class young man. I think that this duet s gonna better be a bonus track while the Udo single--handed version s gonna be the basic album track.
“We strike back” - an elephant”s giveaway. Speed metal track accompaned by an orchestra. Work of guitars are accept-like, they are doubled like on “Fast as a Shark track” and than there is a long-lasting solo in a manner of Wolf. 2 years of Dirkschneiders project tours matters
“Beyond good and evil”.. Another instrumental, was it all worth it ? Pedantically played by the orchestra as all the previous instrumentals. But choirs sings “yes, it all was worth it”
) Actually , just like Udo have said, I have no idea of what they are singing there. But they sing great and it all shows that instrumental orchestral music can not be not bOring, it can be bURning.