I guess there is no need to introduce
Michael Kiske to the average metalhead who have at least the basic knowledge in the 80s Metal and especially the German Power Metal scene. The name of
HELLOWEEN still haunts his name and every interviewer gets tempted to ask the gifted singer whether there is chance to reunite with the famous Metal act. Well, this is ancient history and
Michael has already been following several paths making impressive guest appearances or releasing albums under the
PLACE VENDOME moniker. This time
Frontiers Records bring us a very interesting collaboration between
Kiske and
Amanda Somerville.
Amanda has proven her high vocal abilities when she took over the singing duties for
EPICA during their North American tour supporting
SYMPHONY X.
Amanda did an excellent job then and managed to impress me with her performance especially in the operatic parts.
In the press release that accompanies the promo explain how this idea was born. As it seems,
Michael did a guest appearance for
INDIGO DYING as a duet with a female singer. Things turned more than well and
Frontiers Records resident
Serafino Perugino threw the idea of making a full length album with a similar collaboration and
Amanda was chosen as the ideal singing partner.
Having
Mat Sinner in this project as a bass player, songwriter and co-producer it is not a surprise that this album has a strong Power Metal backbone with distinct references from the German scene.
"Nothing Left To Say" enters exactly in the aforementioned music recipe lead by an almost
GAMMA RAY (I was thinking of
"Land Of The Free") guitar riff followed by the always impressive vocals by
Kiske. Somewhere in the bridge
Amanda joins him and to my surprise she does fit the Metal atmosphere. Don't get me wrong here but, I thought
Amanda as a more symphonic Metal oriented singer based on her
EPICA serving dates. Their duet really shines during the following song
"Silence" where the keyboards are joined by a hearty
PRIMAL FEAR heaviness in the guitars. Fortunately, the album is not single minded and in times experiments a little in an attempt to take full advantage of the two voices.
"Arise" is the perfect example to my saying where the
Zakk Wylde guitar vibrato flirts with an
WITHIN TEMPTATION approach without losing points in terms of overall heaviness. In
"End Of The Road" Amanda sings in a familiar to her music surroundings with symphonic orchestrations and an almost power ballad attitude. Again the
Kiske /
Somerville collaboration works like a Swiss clock creating a killer song with such a powerful atmosphere.
There is no room to doubt this project and this is not just due to the singers. The musicianship is of a high level with great orchestrations and very good guitars. I believe the Metal scene should stop asking for
HELLOWEEN reunion (with
Hansen and
Kiske on the team) and start enjoying the music offerings by one of the best Metal voices. Of course, many kudos to
Somerville for working really hard in creating a strong name in the Metal scene and I think it is time for her to form a full time band.