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Artist: Magica |
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I first came across the band Magica with their excellent 'Hereafter' album back in 2006 and later with the 'Wolves And Witches' album in 2008, and now they are back with their latest opus 'Dark Diary'. The album is another magnificent slice of Power / Symphonic Metal from the Romanian's and again shows the band have what it takes to take on the bigger names in the genre, notably with Anan Mladinovici leading the way with some quite stunning vocals that not only have the power to equal the male vocalists in the genre, but also there is an air of grace that stands out on every track. This is never more prominent than with the opener 'Anywhere But Home', a power guitar rich start to the proceedings with the keyboards of 6Fingers and drums of Sorin Vlad equal to the task of keeping up with the frantic guitar licks aid down by Bogdan Costea, all this before Mladinovici takes p the mike, a really solid foundation for the rest of the album. The magnificent power enthused metal continues with 'Tonight', this is where Mladinovici givers up one of her finest vocals on the album, the power and grace in her voice is just superb, and are the perfect accompaniment to the soaring guitars work of Costea. The pace is picked up once more with the excellent 'Never Like You' where 6Fingers really makes his mark on the album, all the while the barrage of rhythm section keeps the metal feel, this is the first track to feature what I call the beauty and the beast style vocals as Mladinovici duets with a gruff male vocals, this is Power Metal through and through. The thunderous Power Metal is laid aside for a moment as a more Symphonic feel is brought to the forefront with 'Wait For Me', a gentler refrain vocally but still a massive back beat keeps the Metal flowing. The same vibe is carried on with 'Need' before the pace is turned up a notch or two with 'Release My Demons', again another triumphant vocal from Mladinovici with the massive bass of Sorin Vlad pounding out the depths of hell itself. One of the highlights of this album for me has to be 'On The Side Of Evil', this is the band at their sonic best, pounding rhythms engulfed in a soaring vocal, this is quickly followed by another favourite of mine, the epic 'My Kin, My Enemy', this is metal through and through, with the guitar work of Costea again a prominent factor in this one as he fires out the licks one minutes and then brings it down in another, just like a machine gun reloading for another full burst of Full Metal Jacket licks that cut down every thing in their wake. The band
keep things going with the tremendous 'Used To Be An Angel' and the rip
snorting metal of 'We Are Horde', before the closer 'Dark Diary' is
unleashed. Again there's a change in tempo with this final song,
which is bliss to listen to. The gentle keyboards and sublime
vocals take you on an enchanted journey through the writings of the
diarist. The album also boasts an audio book entitled 'The Dark
Diary'. |
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| Tracklisting:
1. Anywhere But Home |
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