Time Signature Rise and fall of the Harlequin...

Genre: traditional heavy metal

After a very productive 2012 during which they released no less than two EPs and a full length, the American metal power trio Corners of Sanctuary initiated 2013 by released their second full-length in January.

"Harlequin" is a massive concept album telling the tale of a street performer who rises to fame in the Royal Zanni Elite, but at great personal cost. Now, this type of concept obviously leads one to expect either avant-garde or epic music, but Corners of Sanctuary play old school traditional heavy metal, proving that it is not impossible to combine this time-honored genre with narrative lyrical concepts.

Stylistically, "Harlequin" offers metal music along the lines of Judas Priest and Anvil with a touch of NWoBHM inspiration. And Corners of Sanctuary definitely know how to write rocking traditional metal with loads of emotional expressive power.

Sadly, while the musical aspect of "Harlequin" is more than satisfactory, the production leaves a lot to be desired. Normally, I do not mind rough productions, but the production of this album is, I think, unnecessarily lo-fi. It is fuzzy, tinny, and imbalanced with the vocals and bass dominating the rhythm guitars completely. Corners of Sanctuary have probably opted for this type of production because of its retro value (the fact that their other releases have the same type of production seem to indicate this), but it does a huge disfavor to the music, greatly diminishing the listening experience.

If you like top quality traditional metal and do not mind bottom quality production value, then you might enjoy this album immensely. For my money, it is a case of unnecessarily lo-fi production detracting heavily from otherwise well-written and well-performed music.