Timo Tolkki's Avalon - Angels Of The Apocalypse
Timo Tolkki's name is no stranger to the European Power Metal scene after his work in Stratovarius and Revelation Renaissance among others. Now here we have his second opus with this new project and coming off the heels of a pretty darn good debut in The Land Of New Hope.
Timo Tolkki's work has always been surrounded by some of the best production available and though often times over the top, you knew what to expect with it. Unfortunately the production here just does not measure up to what we have seen in the past, which is quite surprising. The music is solid, though a bit safe and predictable. Sometimes it seems that Timo throws everything against the wall to see what sticks and in this case he should have let it cook a little longer.
There are some pretty cool tracks here, but they are surrounded by some less spectacular numbers and the inconsistency hurts the overall product. The music is a bit too bombastic and symphonic and it seems that the speedy power has been sacrificed here, making it an almost gothic feel at times. Rise Of The 4th Reich for instance is a pretty cool track, but it would probably have been better if sped up a notch.
There are some pretty good tracks on here, don't get me wrong. In fact the center of the album seems to be it's strongest area with tracks like Stargate Atlantis, The Paradise Lost and the aforementioned 4th Reich being some of the highlights. Jerusalem Is Falling and Neon Sirens also are solid tracks. Some of the other tracks though are a bit too gothy feeling or a bit too sleepy to really get behind.
In a world full of this kind of power metal, this album is unfortunately a bit subpar and will most likely get lost in the shuffle.
\m/ 5 \m/
Timo Tolkki's work has always been surrounded by some of the best production available and though often times over the top, you knew what to expect with it. Unfortunately the production here just does not measure up to what we have seen in the past, which is quite surprising. The music is solid, though a bit safe and predictable. Sometimes it seems that Timo throws everything against the wall to see what sticks and in this case he should have let it cook a little longer.
There are some pretty cool tracks here, but they are surrounded by some less spectacular numbers and the inconsistency hurts the overall product. The music is a bit too bombastic and symphonic and it seems that the speedy power has been sacrificed here, making it an almost gothic feel at times. Rise Of The 4th Reich for instance is a pretty cool track, but it would probably have been better if sped up a notch.
There are some pretty good tracks on here, don't get me wrong. In fact the center of the album seems to be it's strongest area with tracks like Stargate Atlantis, The Paradise Lost and the aforementioned 4th Reich being some of the highlights. Jerusalem Is Falling and Neon Sirens also are solid tracks. Some of the other tracks though are a bit too gothy feeling or a bit too sleepy to really get behind.
In a world full of this kind of power metal, this album is unfortunately a bit subpar and will most likely get lost in the shuffle.
\m/ 5 \m/