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Artist: Sebastien |
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With a
wealth of Rock and Metal coming out of the more recognised Scandinavian
and German quarters, i'st nice to come across a band from the far reaches
of Eastern Europe and one band that needs a special mention are Czech
Republic’s Sebastein. The
band started out back in 1999 under the Calypso moniker and later as
Navar, but it’s the incarnation that cemented the Sebastien name back
in 2008 that really showed the bands true potential. With
George Rain at the helm vocally, the band were always on to a sure bet.
Along with Andy Mons on guitar, Peter Skalainen on bass, Victor Mazanek
on keys and completing the line-up Radek Rain on drums, Sebastein have
unleashed a truly remarkable album in 'Tears Of White Roses'.
Joining the band on this album are a number of special guest
appearances, along with Amanda
Somerville comes Apollo
Papathanasio, Doogie White, Fabio Lione, Mike DiMeo, Tore Moren and
Roland Grapow (who also produced the album at his own Grapow Studios).
So the band
must have something special about them to say the least. The
album mixes great Progressive Metal with Melodic Metal that is instantly
felt from the opening barrage of ‘Museė du Satan Rouge’, which
features Tore Moren and the stunning ‘Femme Fatale' on which Rain
duets with Amanda Somerville. A vocal paring truly made in progressive heaven. There
is an air of the dramatics with the massive thumping symphonic tones of
‘Dorian’, with Fabio Lione and Grapow himself featuring on this
simply sublime example of melody rich power infused Prog. There
are so many fine moments on this album as it continues to impress with
‘Remiel In Flames’, again power and melody intricately woven together
in perfect harmony. The stunning title track ‘Tears Of White Roses’,
on which the mighty Rain is joined by the equally mighty vocals of Mike
DiMeo. Grapow
makes his bass line felt once more on ‘Phoenix Rising’ and ‘Voices
In Your Heart’, the latter again seeing DiMeo join Rain. The
melodic overture that is ‘Fields Of Chlum (1866 AD)' is one of the
highlights of the album along with 'Rhapsody of Fire', with more recently Kamelot
vocalist Fabio Leone showing what a vocal force can do on so many
levels. The
fine melodic metal continues with ‘Lake Of Dreams’ with what I
consider to be Rain’s finest vocal on the album, before sharing the
vocals duties once more on ‘Silver Water’, this time with
Firewind’s Apollo Papathanasio. With
album closes with the two parter 'Black Rose'. The icing on the Prog Metal
cake with part one featuring the legend Doogie White and with part two
seeing the return of Amanda Somerville to the mike. This is quite a
remarkable album that manages to reach out to so many different genres
whilst still being original in concept. A stunning release. |
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| Tracklisting:
1. Musee Du Satan Rouge |
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All content copyright of The Mayfair Mall Zine unless otherwise stated. |
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