Frontiers
2014
1. Song For Eden (Intro)
2. Jerusalem Is Falling
3. Design The Century
4. Rise Of The 4th Reich
5. Stargate Atlantis
6. The Paradise Lost
7. You'll Bleed Forever
8. Neon Sirens
9. High Above Me
10. Angels Of The Apocalypse
11. Garden Of Eden
The second album is always an interesting one for a new band. The first release is the one that (hopefully) gets you excited, but the second album is the first test of the band's staying power and if they can continuously come up with good material. That is the test for Timo Tolkki here coming off a strong debut in The Land Of New Hope. I really wanted this one to continue to be good as I used to love this man's songwriting before the virtual nervous breakdown he had in Stratovarius. It was really nice to hear him seemingly finding his way again and I went into this rooting for him to succeed.
Well, rooting for Timo to succeed doesn't make it so. This isn't the worst power metal album I've ever heard, but I've certainly heard a lot of this before. A number of bands have tried the collection of guest vocalists thing since Avantasia gained some popularity doing it, but most have been subpar imitations with some of the more generic power metal I've ever heard and a lot of these songs fit comfortably into that category. The trick of sorts with having a cast of vocalists is making songs that fit the vocalists or alternatively picking the right vocalists for the songs. If you're going to bring in a bunch of varied talent than all the talent has to fit into their respective niches. That is largely where the last album succeeded and this one mostly fails. Well, that and trying to be more epic where as the last album was good to me because it wasn't the typical epic ensemble and a bit more subtle.
On The Land Of New Hope there was sort of a melodic/atmospheric nature to a lot of the material. Everything was smooth, flowing, and caught my attention with the melodies. On Angels Of The Apocalypse there is no real coherent sound or identity. Loosely, this album tries to be more epic/symphonic, but the sound is pretty varied. A great deal of the tracks here sound like a mish mash of the most predictable power metal with some slight flavors of the bands that the vocalists come from. Rise Of The 4th Reich for instance sounds like a C grade Virgin Steele song where the music is too toned down to be effective and Defeis' vocals overpower the music. Jerusalem Is Falling is also guilty of this as Fabio Lione sounds heavier than the music which is similarly uninspired symphonic music that lacks the punch to sell it.
Another problem I couldn't help noticing here is that some of the vocal talent is thoroughly wasted. Some of the best moments of the last album came from Elize Ryd, but here she's reduced to a virtual backup role as she sings only parts of two songs along with 3 or 4 other vocalists respectively. That's certainly a head scratcher for me. Maybe she was only willing to commit so much session time to this band, but whatever the reason the band ends up leaning away from the strengths of the first album. Fantastic singer Simone Simons is likewise only utilized as part of these ensemble tracks which are honestly pretty forgettable anyway. High Above Me is a ballad of little note and the title track Angels Of The Apocalypse is a bloated epic that fails to justify it's own length.
On the positive side, not all of the album is bad though and some tracks that stick to the more simple, catchy, and melodic format do succeed in a way similar to the first album. Perhaps the biggest saving grace of this album is that Floor Jansen tends to pair well with the music she sings on. Songs like the smooth single Design The Century and the melodic and swift moving The Paradise Lost are among the best the album has to offer and make for solid highlights. Fabio Lione does get it right on his other track, Stargate Atlantis, as well which features a more subdued vocal performance more in line with the light power metal fare that makes up that track. It's not mind blowing, but it has a good flow and is not so jarring as his other track.
A few good highlights can't really make up for the bulk of the album just not being that interesting however. This isn't a terrible album, but it's not really a noteworthy one either. In the end this just sounds like something that fans of the vocalists might want to hear once, but that's about it. Basically, a lot of these songs are bonus track quality. Things that are interesting to hear, but don't compare to the usual material from the artists. This is certainly a misstep in Timo Tolkki's rejuvenation and not the review I wanted to write. Here's hoping that Timo can right this ship and find the spark that made the first album. Maybe it would be better for the man if he stuck to a more stable cast of vocalists or one good one. Hell, I wouldn't object to him making an album with just Elize Ryd or Rob Rock from the first release or even Floor Jansen if it could be arranged. Those two just seemed to sync up with his style better.
Highlights: Stargate Atlantis, Design The Century, The Paradise Lost
Rating - 3.0/5
