Fairyland - The Fall Of An Empire
Avalon
Symphonic Power Metal
14 songs (68:14)
Release year: 2006
Fairyland
Reviewed by Andrew
With many of today's melodic and power metal bands going into more heavier, "cutting-edge" territory, few bands continue to carry the flame of the late 1990's and early 2000's power metal movement consisting of such albums as Rhapsody's Legendary Tales, Dark Moor's The Hall Of The Olden Dreams and Angra's Angels Cry. With France's Fairyland unleashing their second offering unto the world, The Fall Of An Empire shows steadfast dedication to this now waning era and niche of power metal that serves to be both refreshing and monotonous.

Starting off with a symphonic intro (very surprising, I know), the album quickly launches into what could be considered predictable power metal; consisting of melodic guitars, varying and complex keyboard arrangements and, of course, melodic vocals, one is not going to be surprised with anything offered here. The first two songs, the title-track and Lost In The Dark Lands, both lack satisfying hooks and direction; they both venture on aimlessly, lacking any sort of climax, and ultimately offer little satisfaction to those outside of seasoned power metal fanatics, and even that is a stretch. Fortunately, however, the band redeems themselves as the album marches on, for it seems the better material is put in the middle and towards the end, since, otherwise, I'm not so sure I would have made it through all 14 tracks. *winks*

Making strong use of complex, almost progressive, orchestral passages layered atop fairly strong rhythm guitars (although suffering some from production), Fairyland delivers varied and powerful songs with numbers such as Clanner Of The Light or The Awakening. Running through a slew of keyboard pads during the mid-section of The Awakening, with melodies flying all about the song's moderate length (five minutes), Philippe Giordana (song composer and keyboardist) shows that he has what it takes to pen a strong metal number, although it seems he lacks direction with the album's many "wandering" songs. The Fall Of An Empire does embody some extremely impressive musicianship, mostly in the guitar/synth arena ... just listen to the solos in Clanner Of The Light, for example, and tell me that doesn't get your blood flowing kid, 'cause it's good!

If these Frenchmen continue to develop their songwriting skills (afterall, they've only two albums out, both of which are slightly above average) they could very well become one of the new generation's strongest symphonic power metal acts, however, it seems that otherwise they'll only become lost in the dark, despairing lands of uninspired power metal, where many fallen soldiers now lay beneath a waning moon amidst cold, hollow winds ... time will tell.
Killing Songs :
Clanner Of The Light, The Awakening, The Story Remains
Andrew quoted 75 / 100
Other albums by Fairyland that we have reviewed:
Fairyland - Score To A New Beginning reviewed by Marty and quoted 86 / 100
Fairyland - Of Wars In Osyrhia reviewed by Mike and quoted 96 / 100
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