ARTLANTICA — Across The Seven Seas (review)

ARTLANTICA — Across The Seven Seas album cover Album · 2013 · Power Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
UMUR
"Across The Seven Seas" is the debut full-length studio album by multi-national power metal act Artlantica. The album was released through Steamhammer/SPV in May 2013. Artlantica is a supergroup of sorts, featuring a lineup which consists of members/former members of acts like Angel of Eden, Artension, Royal Hunt, Ark and Yngwie J. Malmsteen. In addition to that "Across The Seven Seas" features guest appearances by prolific names like Steve Digiorgio (bass) and Chris Caffery (guitars).

...and the quality of the musicianship is one of the first things you notice when listening to "Across The Seven Seas". These guys can play/sing with their eyes closed and still produce something decent, that´s how skilled they are. Stylistically the music style on the album isn´t much of a surprise if you take into consideration which acts the involved musicians have played/play with. This is what I like to call Rainbow type Euro power metal, which in my world is Euro Power metal with a lot of traditional heavy metal elements and some neoclassical leanings. Actually not too far removed from some of Yngwie J. Malmsteen´s vocal tracks. So while tracks like "Devout" and "Fight for the Light" are relatively high paced, this is not "pedal to the metal" double bass drum Euro power metal by any means. Keyboards play a central role in the music, but the spotlight is predominatly shining on lead vocalist John West.

The 10 tracks on the 47:37 minutes long album vary from relatively fast-paced power metal to more epic sounding traditional heavy metal tracks, but the band have found room for a ballad too in "Ode to My Angel". It´s a very mainstream oriented track, which could easily be played on regular rock radions, maybe except for the blistering guitar solo featured on the track. You can say what you want about the inclusion of such a track on a heavy metal album, but it´s damn well composed. The lyrics reek of clíches, that a hundred other bands have done before, but I´m sure it´ll win over a couple of the more soft oriented heavy metal fans. You know the kind of listeners that love to put the lighter in the air during concerts, when the band are playing ballads.

All in all "Across The Seven Seas" is a high quality release, featuring great musicianship and skillful songwriting. I find the sound production a bit thin sounding though and especially the drum sound score low in my book. Unfortunately it has a negative impact on how powerful I think the music sounds, and therefore my rating is slightly lower than the actual quality of the music deserves. A 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is warranted.
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