Numenor - Chronicles From the Realms Beyond

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Originally released by NUMENOR in mid-2017, this album of mystic-power-Metal-“Chronicles From the Realms Beyond” gets an update two years later.  With an added dimension noticeable from the outset, a broader more honed revision of the cover art is extremely noticeable, this created by fantasy author-Bob Zivkovic, someone you can only gather has had a hand in inspiring the themes of their music.  A change of artwork reflecting the bands intentions  indeed makes the release more interesting, though the sound and overall delivery remains relatively the same.

“Chronicles From the Realms Beyond” was a brilliant release, a solid affair in 2017 and regarded as a fine release by fans and critics. NUMENOR display some skillfully-played epic metal sculpted around themes of mystical lands-Lord Of The Rings style.  So the reasoning behind this actual reissue by this Serbian-quintet comes into question.  That is until you actually play it the whole way through, even compare it to the original 2017 release and you will notice the differences.

Two tracks have been added and one taken away, the bonuses of the self penned-“The Hour of the King” and “Lords of Chaos”, these added songs actually bring an extra element to the overall flow and intensity of the album as a whole.  The tracks galvanize the continuity of the release, suiting the running order. The BLIND GUARDIAN track-“Valhalla” has been removed from the running order.  This time round the album is more entertaining, a wider scope and they follow on from the original stand out of the set, the glorious duet with  Sandra Plamenats -“Moria”, a track which is both infectious and melodically addictive.

In “The Hour Of The King” is a ethereal-joyous rampage with builds a brighter angle to an album which would otherwise be a darker effort.  “Lords Of Chaos” is not as strong but placed on the album justifiably, and Instead works well to bring a bit of freshness to the tracks which follow on.

The motto-if it is not broke there is no need to fix it is true, here though the album was far from a broken collection of songs.  Here though NUMENOR have skillfully improved the overall impact and connection of the tracks on “Chronicles From the Realms Beyond”.  Between this and their two further releases it shows a band who are in the genesis of their career, pointing forward by fixing their past.

Songwriting: 8
Originality: 7
Memorability: 8
Production: 9