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Genre: (progressively inclined) power metal

This certainly is power metal in all its cheesy and pompuous glory. There is no doubt about that. The tone is set with the piano part in the very beginning of the album.

There are the cheesy soft parts, the pompuous neoclassical parts, the high register pseudo-operatic vocals, the epic lyrical themes, the instrument wankery and so on - but all with moderation, and Arachnes never enter into the stereotypical excess of pretentiousness and unintended silliness. That is what makes this album a quite good power metal album and a quite enjoyable listen, and I personally appreciate that there are several sections where you can hear the guitar riffage without it being drowned in epic keyboard effects and lofty choir sections. The power metal elements mostly work very well for me, although there are some keyboards solos here and some epic effects there that sound a bit lame.

In addition to the token power metal elements, Arachnes make use of groovy guitar riffs, speed metal-like figures and other elements that one may not readily associate with power metal. And that adds a certain sense of balance to the album.

I would recommend this album to fans of power metal in general, and specifically to those who do not mind a bit of cheesiness and a bit of heaviness combined. I think that some fans of traditional heavy metal might like it to. I certainly think it is a fine album.