Cruz del Sur
2009
1. Under Cover Of Shadows
2. The Grand Horizon
3. Tides Of Fire
4. 10,000 Midnights Ago
5. Temple Of The Empty
6. My Anger
7. The Bellman
8. The Endurance
9. Lifespan
The Stars Of Never Seen marks the second release from Crescent Shield and I must say that I loved the debut. This one is one of my more anticipated releases of the year. Michael Grant of Onward's voice and Dan Delucie of Destiny's End's guitar playing... how could this be bad? The answer is it couldn't.
Crescent Shield come back with a fine second release on this one in much the same mold as the debut. What we have here is something that is power metal but has something of a raw feel about it while still being epic and reminds me of the best of early American traditional and American power metal's beginnings. A nice variation between heavier and faster moments is balanced well with rolling passages and melodic moments. One thing that boosts this release is the fact that the music never settles too much into one mold and Michael Grant is more than capable of handling the different mood shifts. Only two releases in, I find the sound of this band is instantly recognizable and that's not a small feat with all the different bands out there. Between the riffs of Delucie and the resounding, deep and melodic voice of Grant this band just has a great thing going. Not to be undersold either is great bass lines that drive songs like The Bellman's roll in particular. I could see this band appealing to some people who aren't into modern power metal much as it has something distinctly more traditional about it and doesn't have the cheese factor some power metal.
The Stars Of Never Seen is another win for Crescent Shield and these guys definitely deserves more attention than they have received so far. This band's stock is certainly high in terms of my own listening pleasure. I'll be looking forward to hearing more from Crescent Shield. I'd recommend this to any fans of a rawer 80s traditional meets power sound grounded in Iron Maiden influence.
Highlights: Lifespan, Tides Of Fire, Temple Of The Empty, Under Cover Of Shadows
Rating - 4.0/5
2. The Grand Horizon
3. Tides Of Fire
4. 10,000 Midnights Ago
5. Temple Of The Empty
6. My Anger
7. The Bellman
8. The Endurance
9. Lifespan
The Stars Of Never Seen marks the second release from Crescent Shield and I must say that I loved the debut. This one is one of my more anticipated releases of the year. Michael Grant of Onward's voice and Dan Delucie of Destiny's End's guitar playing... how could this be bad? The answer is it couldn't.
Crescent Shield come back with a fine second release on this one in much the same mold as the debut. What we have here is something that is power metal but has something of a raw feel about it while still being epic and reminds me of the best of early American traditional and American power metal's beginnings. A nice variation between heavier and faster moments is balanced well with rolling passages and melodic moments. One thing that boosts this release is the fact that the music never settles too much into one mold and Michael Grant is more than capable of handling the different mood shifts. Only two releases in, I find the sound of this band is instantly recognizable and that's not a small feat with all the different bands out there. Between the riffs of Delucie and the resounding, deep and melodic voice of Grant this band just has a great thing going. Not to be undersold either is great bass lines that drive songs like The Bellman's roll in particular. I could see this band appealing to some people who aren't into modern power metal much as it has something distinctly more traditional about it and doesn't have the cheese factor some power metal.
The Stars Of Never Seen is another win for Crescent Shield and these guys definitely deserves more attention than they have received so far. This band's stock is certainly high in terms of my own listening pleasure. I'll be looking forward to hearing more from Crescent Shield. I'd recommend this to any fans of a rawer 80s traditional meets power sound grounded in Iron Maiden influence.
Highlights: Lifespan, Tides Of Fire, Temple Of The Empty, Under Cover Of Shadows
Rating - 4.0/5
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