earMUSIC
2012
1. Unisonic
2. Souls Alive
3. Never Too Late
4. I've Tried
5. Star Rider
6. Never Changed Me
7. Renegade
8. My Sanctuary
9. King For A Day
10. We Rise
11. No One Ever Sees Me
Unisonic make for an interesting event in the metal world I must say. I mean you have to at least take notice when two people like Michael Kiske and Kai Hansen of Helloween fan reunite in a new band. It's something a lot of fans of Helloween have wished for for some time. Granted I've never been as huge a fan of Kiske Helloween as some, but I did enjoy some of their material together and this was at least worth a shot.
Well after listening to this, the best one word to describe this debut from Unisonic is anticlimactic. The sort of gimmick of these two back together aside, this is a pretty plain release with no real substance. Unisonic is not even close to the sort of material old Helloween fans would love to hear these two doing again so don't get your hopes up on that one.
Unisonic's debut is basically made up of the kind of run of the mill melodic rock that Kiske seems to favor these days. I don't even really get why Hansen would want to divide his time with this other than maybe nostalgia in working with Kiske again. I mean, I'm not opposed to doing something different, but Gamma Ray (or classic Helloween) is far superior to what can be found on this release. The material here tends to be melodic to a fault and lacks any real punch or heaviness. The closest it usually comes to picking up the pace is not really at all in metal fashion. For more upbeat songs you get stuff like Never Too Late and Never Change Me which are more like bouncy rock and grate on my nerves. Not at all the sort of material I enjoy and entirely lacking in heaviness. There is a slight hint of edge to the first two tracks, Unisonic and Souls Alive, but even these are relative lightweights.
Basically, The songs on this album conjure up comparisons to the project Allen/Lande's more mediocre melodic tracks, bouncy pop rock, or Helloween after they started to drift from power metal on albums like Pink Bubbles Go Ape and Chameleon. You know... the kind of stuff that nearly did the band in before Michael Kiske left. Seriously, try doing a side by side with some songs from those albums and this one. This kinda reminds me of what Helloween could have become if Andy Deris didn't step in and save the band from the brink.
The overall impression I got from this release was boredom punctuated by moments of annoyance. Kinda like having a fitful sleep. I really could not get into any of the material here. I could compare this stylistically to Axel Rudi Pell, Allen/Lande, etc but it's sort of a disservice to those bands in terms of quality. Those bands bring an epic flair, heaviness, and power that this album just doesn't possess. I wouldn't really recommend this to anyone but the most diehard Kiske fans. Unisonic's debut is bound to be a mere trivial footnote in Kiske and Hansen's careers. Did the metal world really need more Kiske material that conjures up material of Helloween's darkest days? I'm of a mind to say no to that one.
Highlights: Souls Alive
Rating - 1.0/5
2. Souls Alive
3. Never Too Late
4. I've Tried
5. Star Rider
6. Never Changed Me
7. Renegade
8. My Sanctuary
9. King For A Day
10. We Rise
11. No One Ever Sees Me
Unisonic make for an interesting event in the metal world I must say. I mean you have to at least take notice when two people like Michael Kiske and Kai Hansen of Helloween fan reunite in a new band. It's something a lot of fans of Helloween have wished for for some time. Granted I've never been as huge a fan of Kiske Helloween as some, but I did enjoy some of their material together and this was at least worth a shot.
Well after listening to this, the best one word to describe this debut from Unisonic is anticlimactic. The sort of gimmick of these two back together aside, this is a pretty plain release with no real substance. Unisonic is not even close to the sort of material old Helloween fans would love to hear these two doing again so don't get your hopes up on that one.
Unisonic's debut is basically made up of the kind of run of the mill melodic rock that Kiske seems to favor these days. I don't even really get why Hansen would want to divide his time with this other than maybe nostalgia in working with Kiske again. I mean, I'm not opposed to doing something different, but Gamma Ray (or classic Helloween) is far superior to what can be found on this release. The material here tends to be melodic to a fault and lacks any real punch or heaviness. The closest it usually comes to picking up the pace is not really at all in metal fashion. For more upbeat songs you get stuff like Never Too Late and Never Change Me which are more like bouncy rock and grate on my nerves. Not at all the sort of material I enjoy and entirely lacking in heaviness. There is a slight hint of edge to the first two tracks, Unisonic and Souls Alive, but even these are relative lightweights.
Basically, The songs on this album conjure up comparisons to the project Allen/Lande's more mediocre melodic tracks, bouncy pop rock, or Helloween after they started to drift from power metal on albums like Pink Bubbles Go Ape and Chameleon. You know... the kind of stuff that nearly did the band in before Michael Kiske left. Seriously, try doing a side by side with some songs from those albums and this one. This kinda reminds me of what Helloween could have become if Andy Deris didn't step in and save the band from the brink.
The overall impression I got from this release was boredom punctuated by moments of annoyance. Kinda like having a fitful sleep. I really could not get into any of the material here. I could compare this stylistically to Axel Rudi Pell, Allen/Lande, etc but it's sort of a disservice to those bands in terms of quality. Those bands bring an epic flair, heaviness, and power that this album just doesn't possess. I wouldn't really recommend this to anyone but the most diehard Kiske fans. Unisonic's debut is bound to be a mere trivial footnote in Kiske and Hansen's careers. Did the metal world really need more Kiske material that conjures up material of Helloween's darkest days? I'm of a mind to say no to that one.
Highlights: Souls Alive
Rating - 1.0/5
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