Ghosthill - Embrace of a chasm 3/5
Reviewed: 11-1-10
Tracklist:
1. A billion years of torments
2. The last dimension
3. Cyclonic death
4. The mist
5. Silent night
6. Titanic heroes
7. Down the dark river
8. Embrace of a chasm
9. Stronger than fire
10. Vigilant forest
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Ghosthill is a Russian band and 'Embrace of a chasm' is their full-length debut, but unlike many Russian CDs that I personally review, it's not a Russian-language CD. The band is fronted by Mira (Marina Selivanova), whose vocals are high-pitched and she also has an accent. I think she does a good job and her vocals emanate confidence, but she's certainly not one of my favorite female vocalists out there.
The band's style is right in the center of power metal (with occasional/light symphonic and gothic elements), but surprisingly, they don't bring other Russian power metal bands to mind. Instead, I'm reminded of bands like Forgotten Tales, Fading Starlight, Dawn of Destiny at times, and especially Evarest, as Mira's vocals are similar to Eva Markvartova's of Evarest. Both have unique voices and they're truly close to each other, though quite different from the many Tarja-style vocalists in power metal.
Thankfully there is a lot of speed on this debut (a big reason for my aforementioned band comparisons), but there are also a few mid-paced/bouncy moments (most notable on track 4 "The mist") and the slow track 5 "Silent night" is really nice. In fact, it's probably where Mira stands out the most, as a lot of the other songs sound a like. There are some great melodies present on the majority of the songs, especially at the beginning and during the chorus, to make sure to grab the listener's attention. The closer "Vigilant forest" is my personal favorite, but all of the songs are close to the same level of quality.
So what we have here is a good debut that won't blow away fans of female fronted power metal, but should certainly satisfy them - especially those who are into the mentioned bands and like a strong dose of speed. Promising start, for sure.
CLINT
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