Eternal Flight - Under the sign of will 3.5/5
Reviewed: 1-25-08
Tracklist:
1. Edge of fire
2. Dark society
3. Under the sign of will
4. The forgotten side
5. Deaf, dumb, blind
6. Next ones on the list
7. Friends
8. The curse
9. Miracle man
10. Ghost (With a different soul)
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The sophomore effort from France’s Eternal Flight combines a solid blend of clean melodic metal and progressive tone, that should please fans of bands like Dragonhammer, Labyrinth, Ivory Tower, and even Angel Dust or Fates Warning if 'Perfect symmetry' was slightly skewed towards its successor in 'Parallels'.
I'm not familiar with this band’s debut 'Positive rage', but vocalist Gerard Fois was in Dream Child, who has released 2 CDs, their 2nd being the 1999 release with Metal Blade, 'Reaching the golden gates', which was rather rare at that time when melodic metal was still in its nadir in the U.S., and that style is not terribly disparate from what you get here.
Fois’ voice is good and suitable for the music; it’s not quite the best you’ll hear in this style (like Roberto Tiranti from Labyrinth circa 'Return to heaven denied'), but it's much better than some of the weaker, more nasal, and straining singers you sometimes here in this realm. The instruments are well played and tight, there’s enough of a metal bite to separate it from a really progressive band, but don’t expect as much bite or crunch as you might get from Angel Dust. The production is good in that it captures a good deal of separation between the instruments, but could also be better in terms of a sharper overall edge and sound.
The songs, with a somewhat progressive tone but written a bit more succinctly, have a bit of that dark brooding style similar to Angel Dust’s more recent songwriting that is catchy in a totally different style from the Helloweenish sing-song of Insania, etc.; they’re good, but I also am left with a feeling that they could have been even better.
'Under the sign of will' is a good CD that will likely please many metal fans, especially if they don’t mind a mild progressive tone and a lack of the more European power sound (many will probably embrace them for that), and the more you yearn for the darker sweet of Angel Dust and Tyrant Eyes, the more it would become a recommended purchase.
CRAIG
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