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Artist: Indica |
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Indica are a band that have been around for some time now, they seem to have been taken under the wing of Nightwish's Tuomas Holopainen, who invited the band on the Scandinavian leg of their tour in 2007, which led to him producing the band's next album 'Valoissa', the album also saw the talents of Pip Williams and the literary talents of their lyrics collaborator Rory Winston come in to help with the album. The band were then invited to support Nightwish on the second leg of their Dark Passion Play tour. So that's a brief history now on to the album itself. 'A Way Away' is a compilation of the bands previous work but this time with English Lyrics and again Tuomas Holopainen is involved with the production side of things. The album is a sheer joy to listen to, this isn't your usual metal fair, this is just a great listen to album, which gets under way with 'Islands Of Light' (Vuorien Taa), a great opener full of atmospheric undertones and orchestral strings with the simply angelic vocals brining it all together. This simply divine release continues with the gentle tones of 'Precious Dark' (Pida Kadesta), this one has a pop vibe to it, then it's the slightly darker vibe of 'Children Of Frost' (Hiljainen Maa), this is not a heavy track but is a switch from the previous two tracks, the haunting vocals at the beginning of the song add to a kind of folklore story teller feel to the track and this is carried on throughout the song. The album enters a more symphonic tone with 'Lilja's Lament' (Rannalla), before that pop rock feel is brought back into the mix with 'In Passing' (Valoissa), one of my favourite tracks off the album, the swaying melodies are just sheer ear candy. The tempo picks up with another of my favourite tracks off the album the rockier 'Scissor, Paper, Rock' (Ikuinen Virta), the guitars take more of a lead on this one, this song has the makings of a chart entry song. The title track 'A Way Away' (Nukkuu Kedolla) is next, this is another haunting melody that will stir the very soul, before it's back to the rockier and almost Eastern tones of 'As If' (Ela). This one is full of angst and vibrant tones, this song has Holopainen written all over it, the production on this track is superb, the mix of the tones and tempo will keep you gripped from start to finish, definitely my track of the album. The same rockier vibe continues on the superb 'Straight & Arrow' (Pahinta Tanaan), this one rocks big style and I'm sure this song will see the band being labeled as another Evanescence, if this was the only song you'd heard off the album, but let me tell you, the band are much more than that. The album closes with 'Eerie Eden' (Vetta Vasten), a real stormer to end things on, again there is a Middle Eastern and North African vibe around this one, with symphonic elements and some of the best keyboards on the album. Like I said before, this isn't your usual metal fair but what this is is a great album full of mystery and magic that just seems to attract you and makes your ears smile. This is a band that I think would light up any stage, let's hope they will make a trip to these shores in the not too distant future. |
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| Tracklisting:
1. Islands Of Light |
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