Released By : Self Released
Genre : Progressive Metal, Power Metal
Links : http://www.myspace.com/shadowblademusic
Tracklist:
01. Prologue
02. The Dreamwaters
03. Call Of The Ocean
04. Snowfall
05. Beijing Sunrise
06. Lunar
07. The Redeemer
08. Frozen Serenity
09. Frozen Serenity II
When I saw the cover for this album and read the band name and also the album title, I was pretty sure this was going to be a band from Italy or the Netherlands where progressive metal and power metal is rife. I was very surprised to discover that the band actually comes from Canada and was also surprised with the quality of the overall product being that it is a self-released debut. Before this album the band had released a couple of demos and E.P’s which are basically impossible to find these days.
Where the album succeeds is in its ability to constantly offer up some interesting changes that really keep the flow going without any stagnation whatsoever. A lot of bands that base themselves around the progressive metal tag are too interested in showing off how good they are without any concern about how a song needs to be structured to be cohesive enough to listen to multiple times. SHADOWBLADE must be aware of this fact and have made sure that the progressive elements are never too intrusive while still staying strong enough to impress ability wise and hopefully to keep the progressive metal fan base happy at the same time. The power metal influence is clear and when mixed into a song with the progressive side of the band we get some pretty impressive tunes. There is also a slight feel of folk metal sing-alongs and even the tiniest little hint of battle metal in the track THE REDEEMER. The band also add another interesting element to their sound with some near death metal vocals and even the occasional black metal inspired scream.
The band still have a little bit of work to do before they could realistically push for big success, but for a debut album FROZEN SERENITY does a great job at showing their potential and I really hope they get some interest from a decent label as I would love to hear what they could do with a bigger budget and a top class producer helping them out.
Written By ZeeZee
Rating : 8/10
About Author
