Windhawk
Really interesting début from this Italian band.
The basic sound of this band is from the Dream Theater school of prog metal, with dark and slightly gritty guitar riffs and melodic synths dominating the soundscape in a way much similar to what DT did on their Awake album. Heart of Sun have their own thing going here though; using the foundation to explore tracks in quite a different manner than this influence.
Heart of Sun is a band very much exploring in their tunes. They have a multitude of changes in style and pace in each song, constantly evolving the tunes. And always staying melodic too, even when rocking out. And a feature throughout the album are dark soundscapes, even when at the most mellow, there's a dark tinge to these tunes that is most fascinating.
Good album worth checking out by fans of melodic prog metal; only negative aspect here is the vocals, which are a bit on the weak side at times.