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Sorry, what barriers did Ecliptica break? What new approach did it forge?

I love Ecliptica. But it's "power metal, pure and simple."

This is better than the new SA, but still pretty bland.

69 / 100

Hm, my sentence is awkwardly phrased. That's what you get for writing reviews during class.

Anyway, when I said it wasn't the reincarnation of Ecliptica, I meant that Ecliptica practically set the standard for European Power Metal, IMHO, whereas Gather The Faithful is doing nothing of the sort.

Well, yeah, I'll give you that, Ecliptica is one of my favourite albums and one of the best albums ever in the style. But it's nothing groundbreaking in anything other than how good it is.

Which has become so rare lately that it's quite enough for me.

I still am singing along with this one. The melodies are catchy and Kotipelto's voice sounds great. I disagree with most of the review, and my biggest beef with the review is that this [url]does[/url]sound like Sonata. Sometimes I catch myself thinking I'm actually listening to Sonata. Great album all the way around (even the ballads). I'll score this 85-89/100 and in contention for album of the year.

How can this be an album of the month and only get an 80 score?

Dammit, I meant surprise of the month. Fixed it.

At least this album has solos, the lack of guitar on SA latest just ruins it at times, if they had let the new guy have a go it would have been so much better. CO isn't the best album of it's kind this year, there are better like Ilium's latest, but its still quite a good album.

Barely.

It's true, it is surprisingly low on guitar solos. The keyboard solos are good though, better than Klingenberg's have been for SA lately.

+1

To the review

You give the album a score of 80, ....80 = Outstanding...Yet when i read the review I see comment's like....

.......The lyrics are unremarkable, extremely easy to overlook, and Kotipelto doesn’t have one of the cleanest dictions in metal. They serve their purpose in providing something for him to sing, but nothing really stands out. Stick to composing, Jani, and let someone else write the lyrics. The production also sounds a little dull. The guitars are very artificial and subdued, and the entire atmosphere comes across as flat, missing the dynamic possibilities with a more individual production. This is a very minor flaw, however.

.......Another gripe (although less serious)

......but still, I’m pretty disappointed

....It does not take long, however, for the weakest point of the album to become painfully apparent. Kotipelto’s voice is grating, his altos sound uncomfortably forced, and the overall impression is one of uninspired boredom. His voice is almost entirely devoid of passion, and makes listening to the songs more of a chore than they should be




How can you find an album "Outstanding" and still find so many flaw's....Please explain .....

I also don't understand how you can have a "surprise of the month" tag for a "highly anticipated" album and then be disappointed when you listen to it.

Can't imagine Ecliptica set any power metal standard, but that album is killer. "FullMoon" is still one of the best power metal tunes I've ever heard.

Because apart from those, the album is still outstanding. Jani's songwriting is excellent, and the overall performance is topnotch, except for the voice. Did you not see that in the review? If the singing and the production had been better this album would've gotten a 90 or more from me.

Because I got over my disappointment to appreciate what it really was. It was very good despite not being what I expected, and that got it the Surprise of the Month.

Pretty solid album, but not amazing. 80ish.

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Elegantly Broken

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