| CD REVIEW Avian |
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Band: Avian Minneapolis (Minnesota) based Avian’s debut album From The Depths Of Time goes back to late 2005 (review by your servant posted 18/11/2005, contains a detailed history-of-the-project and is still available for the reader’s factfinding needs), when it was issued through Nightmare Records (in fact the label started in 1995 by frontman and singer-extraordinaire Lance King to promote the kind of music – US Power Metal with Progressive flavourings – he was into himself) in North America, Massacre Records in Europe, and Hot Rockin in Japan! An album which apparently got real good reviews, and therefore worthty of being taken out of the strict studio project thing, with several live performances as a result (Avian did their live debut supporting Gamma Ray on May 12, 2006, when that band happened to play in Minnesota). Obviously, those were not done with David Ellefson (bassist on the album), whom was too busy with other projects. In his stead, one Noah Martin (with a curriculum including spots with Mithril Force, Arsis, Dark Empire, Suspyre, Lilitu, and Blood Promise) came to the fore, a musician who’d played with keyboardist Jonah Weingarten (in Blood Promise and Lilitu). And in stead of drummer Dave Small eventually came one Jerry Babcock. Taking care of lead guitars during those live performances was one Ron (sorry, I don’t know anything more about him). For those interested, the album was given a second lease on life (with the addition of bonus track “Two Sides Collide”) after a remastering by King (I don’t know exactly whén that re-issue was released, but now yoù know that such a re-issue exists, okay?). When time came to get into the recording of the new Avian album, some new people entered the equasion. To play the guitar solos, mastermind Yan Leviathan decided to make use of Bill Hudson (a Brazilian guitarist now residing in the US, known from Cellador, and now also playing with Powerquest and Circle II Circle). Yan himself not only handled the rhythm and lead guitars, but also did the bass, and King also played all keyboards on the album. Which doesn’t mean he’ll be handling ‘em on stage as well, although it would look like Weingarten is no longer with the band (keyboards, that something which can be handled by computer, or a backstage man, after all)! To handle the bass on live performances King drew in Brian Hollenbeck, a fellow bandmate from The King’s Machine. But that was àfter the shows the band did earlier in 2008: evidently, Avian headlined the label’s first 2-day festival (Nightmare Metal Fest, which also featured Cage, Pownd, Warmachine, Disasterpeace, and quite a few more acts in the slightly progressive Power Metal style) in March! And that Avian show included Cellador bassist Mika Horuchi in the line-up! Getting back to the new album…which is the conceptual continuation of the debut (and by the way, that favourite book of Yan’s…The Gardens Of Rama, it was written by Arthur C. Clarke, a revered Science Fiction author whom ranks quite highly on yours truly’s personal appreciation levels as well)…you see, I’m somewhat torn about it! On the one end I love each and every track, seperatedly…nice complexities brought in a tone set to the darker side of the octave. I mean, recordings on the guitars were done with a tonality towards the bass spectrum of sound…which on the one end makes for a “Modern” type of sound, bbut on the other end tends to beget a somewhat boring factor when you’re listening to the album as a whole! That’s something you simply can’t have on a concept album, wouldn’t you agree, because you’d want the listener’s attention gripped from the beginning to the end of your story…right? Well, it’s a good thing there’s Hudson’s splattering solos spread around the album, for they (in combination to the siren-like singing of Mr. King) bring a different tonality to the fore. Also, the sparce but tastefully placed keyboard intrusions King brings in are an additional attention grabber! At the end of…I don’t know how many sessions I gave the album anymore…I have to conclude that the album contains all elements of a genius record, both musically as vocally (the occasional vocodered passages, nice harmony backings), but that it regrettably came out slightly wrong in the mixing/ mastering with a sound that drowns out the details somewhat when you’re not listening to the music with headphones (a perfect example is the véry bass-driven “Thundersoul”). Anyway, hence my final rating! Check out a couple of songs off the new album (a full-length version of “The Lost And Forsaken”, a live acoustic version of “Beyond The Hallowed Gates”, and a 5-minute sampled introduction to the whole album) and an equal amount off the debut at myspace.com/avianband (plus video footage of “The Lost And Forsaken” – which was the album’s first single – Avian at the Nightmare Metal Fest 2008, and Bill Hudson soloing over two tracks – also check the blogs for that). 90/100 Tony. |