Narnia - The Great Fall
Nuclear Blast
Power Metal
9 songs (54'00")
Release year: 0
Narnia, Nuclear Blast
Reviewed by Jay

Narnia is a Power Metal act from Sweden. Their latest album “The Great Fall” is a good follow up to their last release “Desert Land.” Nuclear Blast has a knack for releasing first-rate metal albums and this one is no exception in terms of production. However, the content is slightly lacking.

Kicking off with “The Countdown Has Begun,” the album gives us a strong opening track. The melodic guitar is perfected and the rhythm section is very strong. It’s a typical power metal song and Narnia prove they can hold their own with this one. The melody is somewhat similar to some of the stuff that Cream did way back in the day. “Back From Hell Again” is similar to something that Iced Earth might have done but the added verse parts are much softer and a nice element that Narnia brings. This track ends with some really cheesy and unnecessary voice acting. The keyboards and eerie effects alone would have gotten the point across just as well. The voice acting in general could have been omitted from this album entirely. It is on several tracks and only seemed to detract from the music. “No Time to Loose” has an extended three minute Pink Floyd inspired solo which is great however the background supporting melody and drumming just seem to drone on and on. The backing music detracts from the great solo that guitarist Carl Johan Grimmark busts out. “Innocent Blood” has some good chorus vocals but overall is a fair track that isn’t too memorable sadly except for another cool solo. “Ground Zero” is an instrumental and one of the best songs on the album. The doomy sound of Black Sabbath is fused with something more contemporary and progressive like Star One. “Judgement Day” has a keyboard intro that sounds like it was created by an industrial act. This melody is ripped away from us when the song gets going and I wish it would have been integrated as a keyboard harmony instead of the standard background chords. While the theme reappears in the choruses, it should really have been integrated into the song. It would have drastically improved the overall sonic landscape and contribute to the upbeat sound they were going for. The final song “The Great Fall of Man” is a long and epic track that has many interesting elements. About half way through the song there is a nice breakdown with a military style march played on the drums.

This album is good but with Kamelot's “Epica,” Dragonforce’s “Valley of the Damned” and even Celesty’s “Reign of Elements” in recent memory, it is really hard not to grade on a curve. The Power Metal genre has gotten some really awesome albums recently and this album, while good, just does not measure up to these standards. Getting rid of the voice acted parts would be a real step in the right direction since they do not add anything of value to the music. Narnia is not Rhapsody and they just can’t pull off the story album quite that well.

Killing Songs :
Judgement Day, Ground Zero
Jay quoted 69 / 100
Other albums by Narnia that we have reviewed:
Narnia - Course of a Generation reviewed by Thomas and quoted 85 / 100
Narnia - Desert Land reviewed by Chris and quoted 65 / 100
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