(Power Metal) [CD] Emerald Sun - Regeneration (Japanese Edition RBNCD-1043) - 2011, FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Emerald Sun set my world afire 4 years ago with a very impressive, albeit stylistically archaic album in “Escape From Twilight”. Along with the band itself, it reflected a work about 10 years in the making, and sounded more akin to a number of Helloween styled melodic bands that had cropped up in the recent aftermath of Gamma Ray’s “Land Of The Free”. An intricate part of their sound was the acquisition of a near perfect Michael Kiske impersonator in Jimmy Santrazami, mostly because I was sore that Kiske had not been involved in a permanent metal band since 1993, but the band was a powerful until as a whole, and even took occasions to add a little bit of a Stratovarius vibe via a very competent keyboardist. It is this attribute that has kept their sophomore effort “Regeneration” a success, albeit a somewhat lesser one, as it lacks the presence of their helmsman and primary draw.

Despite the heavily different character of new vocalist Theo Tsakirides, who sounds closer to a Nick Night or a Joacim Cans than a Michael Kiske, this is largely a continuation of the same winning formula as 4 years prior. Ambient keyboard majesty, occasional breaks into ballad-like quietness, and plenty of high speed majesty as only a German inspired band can put it together is the rule of the day on here, and delivers consistently from one song to the next. The only area where there is really a huge break in the sonic tradition established on “Escape From Twilight” is that the guitar sound and emphasis has been moved away from the late 80s character of a mild crunch with near-equal footing with the keyboards to something much more bombastic, in the same vein as more guitar oriented outfits like Firewind and Mean Streak, and Theo’s vocal style definitely plays well to this change.

As an album, this is about as consistent as they come, bearing some comparisons to less serious metal worshiping bands, but still maintaining a more seriously toned, fantasy-based approach to lyrics. Perhaps the only exception to this is the quirky comedy bit on speed “Planet Metal”, which reminds of the typical clowning around of Edguy, and actually doesn’t sound too far off from their most ingenious version of such shenanigans in “Save Us Now”, complete with the goofy alien voice. But otherwise this is the prototypical brand of good vs. evil storytelling, culminating in some really solid fits of fast paced and catchy majesty in “Theater Of Pain” and “Starchild”. And in likewise fashion, they’ve offered up a colossal 12 minute mishmash of bashing heads with riffs with occasional break into solemn, contemplative keyboard sections with exposed guitar and vocal melodies. It’s been done many times before, but it is done competently enough here to come off as fresh and inviting.

This is maybe a slight let down from their amazing Limb Music debut. It’s just way too easy to get attached to that album’s line up because the album worked so well, but this is definitely a band that knows how to make their let downs all but inconsequential. Greece has not had many contributors to this style, and this outfit definitely is a credit, even within the extremely broad context of the whole European scene at present. If you’re of a mind to support a Macedonian powerhouse and your tastes include a middle ground between German punch and Finnish lightness, the definitely look into these guys.

Review written

Links:
http://www.emeraldsun.gr/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerald_Sun
http://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Emerald_Sun/37365