| CD REVIEW Reflection |
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Band : Reflection Hum...I have some mixed feelings when listening to this album! On paper everything looks quite exhilerating: Greek Epic/ Doom masters Reflection aren't exactly new to the scene. Founded in 1991, they delivered their first demo tapes Before The End and When Immortals Die in 1992 and 1993 respectively. 1995's 7-inch Sire Of The Storm (issued on the Dark Sire imprint) marked the band's official opening move, but it would take the band until 1999 to release their debut full-length The Fire Still Burns as a self-financed effort. The new millenium opened with split CD Realms Of The Night on the NMC Music label prior to the band's signing to Secret Port Records for the official release of their 1999 full-length, now getting the title The Fire Still Burns – 2001 Edition. With 2003's concept album Odyssey the band garnered some moderate success, as by then the global appreciation of Epic/ Doom Metal had again been rekindled. In other words, here's a band with a decent history...but now comes the hickup, because in early 2006 the act was completely overhauled when mainstays Stathis (guitar) and George Pavlantis (drums) recruited the services of Leo Stivala (singer of Maltese veteran Doom act Forsaken), and renewed the rest of the line-up with bassist John Litinakis (returning to the fold after having done military duties for his country) and keyboardist/ backing singer Iraklis Loukakis. As I said, in theory it all looks very promising, and at least as fas as the instrumental part of the band is concerned, you won't hear me complaining. Quite on the contrary, because the instrumentalists bring a very nice and varied sound tapestry. Only one song crosses the 5-minutes border (the slightly Oriental-influenced "Eyes Of The Night") and there's even a couple of really short tracks as well (album opening "Entering The Sea..." is really a short intro – with Stivali being accompanied only by acoustic guitar and some sparce percussion – to the ensuing "Mistress Of Sea", and "Whispers Of The Lost..." is a nice piano keyboard melody into which a crescendo synth is incorporated to include also the sound of a beating heart, with whisperings as only vocal acivity) meaning the Epic factor ain't that specifically pushed through. A couple of songs (among which most prominently the album's title track) even have a more ProgMetal oriented direction. Being primarily a live act, Reflections have played several festivals since their line-up overhaul. They've also played many headliner shows as well as supported the likes of Solitude Aeturnus, Demon, Paul Di'Anno, and Wotan (to name but a few). In fact, só important are the live activities to this band, that when presenting their new line-up on their MySpace page, they posted a threesome of live videos as soon as soon as April 2006! Videos which perfectly show the potential of the new line-up! So, what's the problem? Well, when recording his vocals Stivali must've been ill or something, because he doesn't deliver quite the same quality of vocals I've grown acustomed to with Forsaken. I suppose he's tried to emulate the old singer's somewhat higher pitch a bit too much, with as a result that his delivery occasionally sounds a little over the top and in a false note! Which tears down the overall quality of the band's offering, and that's a pity, because instrumentally the guys are truly góód!!! Luckily, Stivali doesn't sound like a cat being skinned àll the time, and thanks to Litinakis' interesting and equally lamented backing vocals the whole is often saved from being discarted at first listening! In fact, after a few repeated listening sessions you may well find out you're getting quite used to the few awkward moments, bringing along a change of attitude towards the material which will allow you to immerse yourself in the overall melancholic mood of the album without any reticensce! Check out a couple of the new album's songs at myspace.com/reflectiongr, where you can also compare some older material against the new stuff. Containing a total of 12 tracks, the nicest instant and most positive surprise on the album comes with the album closing orchestral version of "Mistress Of Sea". The instrumentation is exchanged with a symphonic one with horns and orchestral drums, plus a large portion of the vocals is done by a mixed choir with a "solo" part for one of the women. In other words, the song is devoid of electrical instruments, and now sounds like it's taken from the soundtrack of some movie! 88/100 Tony. |