(Power/Progressive Metal) Ebony Ark - Decoder - 2004, APE (image+.cue), lossless

Well, here's another one of those female vocalist power metal bands. Let me start off by saying this band sounds like all the others you've heard (Nightwish, Magica, Edenbridge, Lacuna Coil, Dark Moor (old); you get the picture). The only difference is I don't think any of these "female vocalist bands" use elements of prog. Ebony Ark mixes prog metal with female vocals.

When I first heard a couple of songs off their web site I was eager to get a hold of their album, even though I'm not a huge fan of bands with female vocalists (the main reason because I've heard the same shit over and over again too much). But I figured what the hell, they sounded pretty good. Well I wasn't disappointed, but then again I wasn't impressed either. This IS, just as I was afraid of the same stuff done over and over again. Beatriz Albert is a pretty good vocalist, but nowhere near say Tarja Turunen (Nightwish) or Elisa C. Martin (ex-Dark Moor).

Something that I really like about this album is the riffs. Rubén Villanueva and Javier Jiménez do some pretty cool prog riffs, and what few guitar solos there is are pretty good too.

In conclusion, if you are a fan of the female vocalist style of metal, then this is an album for you, as it has nothing special, and sounds everything like everything else. I'm not saying this is a bad album, actually I enjoyed it, I'm just looking for bands to do something different. I think Ebony Ark has the potential to become a big band (first thing they need to do is get a record label) but Beatriz Albert needs to improve her vocal skills, and they need to learn how to do a few more guitar solos. I await the next release with anticipation of improvement.

Daniel Melián Bass
Javier Díez Keyboards
Jorge Sáez Drums
Beatriz Albert Vocals (lead)
Rubén Villanueva Guitars
Javier Jiménez Guitars