(Power Metal) [CD] Emerald Sun - Metal Dome - 2015, FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Often times when a band gets further along in their career they will start to distance themselves from their early roots. Whether this occurs out of weariness with established practices or out of some commercial necessity, a band's third LP is often a place where a band decides to evolve their sound or stick to their guns, particularly if a long studio break precedes it. Thankfully, in spite of some heavy lineup changes over the past eight years, Emerald Sun are having none of this "evolve or go extinct" nonsense and have opted to not only stick to their guns, but also dial back some mild changes that were made on their sophomore effort Regeneration to find themselves back to the same winning formula that stuck them a formidable debut in Escape From Twilight. Truth be told, this band have actually managed to augment the quality of their craft and have come out with an album in Metal Dome that not only reaffirms the brilliance of their debut, but slightly surpasses it on all fronts, including and particularly carving out a sound that is firmly grounded in power metal tradition, but also a tad bit more distinctive.

As best as can be stated, Emerald Sun has actually managed to merge together the divergent character of Iron Savior oriented speed metal in all its Judas Priest inspired glory with that of the lighter, lofty Helloween meets Stratovarius character of such bands as Freedom Call and the sadly defunct Power Quest. It manages to walk the line between the more aggressive, heavy handed riffing character normally associated with Accept during Herman Frank's original tenure with said band, and also the keyboard oriented and arena themed loftiness and density of the lighter side of German and Italian power metal without coming off as disjointed. Most of this dichotomy tends to manifest separately, as several songs on here tend to be dominated by either speed or crunchy groove, and also coinciding with lyrical themes as varied as metal worship, fantasy and nature. It has a feel that is definitely tilted towards the positive and glorious side of power metal, though it definitely has a greater sense of punch and attitude than some other bands that deal exclusively with the lighter side of good vs. evil storytelling.

A good analogy to describe the tiny divergence between this album and the nearly as powerful debut it came after is that of Freedom Call's first and second albums respectively. Much in the same fashion as Crystal Empire, Emerald Sun's winning debut was formatted as a traditional late 1990s power metal album (which makes sense since many of the songs go back that far) with a keyboard oriented instrumental prelude and a somewhat uneven pacing. By contrast, Metal Dome tends to follow the Stairway To Fairyland approach of kicking things off with a more epic starting song that is also fast and killer in "Screamer In The Night", which to date is the most powerful song these Greek power metal enthusiasts have put together and arguably one that dwarfs most of what Freedom Call, Gamma Ray and Helloween have put forth in the past decade. It's one of those songs that builds from a moderate roar to a soaring celebration of speed and majesty by the chorus point and is unrelentingly glorious no matter where it goes, not to mention one loaded with solid sing-along material.

Like with any album in this style, much of the best work is accomplished with all engines burning at full speed, but this band manages to keep their game together even when they dial things back. A couple of obvious winners in the former department include the occasionally punchy and always riveting melodic speeder "Black Pearl" and the slightly more speed/thrashing and Iron Savior inspired "Racing With Destiny". Things take on a bit more of a groovy, mid 80s Accept and Judas Priest formula on "Metal Dome", and vocalist Theo Tsakirides proves to have the right amount of edge and authority to his voice to pull off a song like this alongside the more Helloween oriented material. Things take on a particularly lighter and lofty feel on the appropriately named "Freedom Call", which literally sounds like a perfect amalgam of the song's German power metal namesake and the even lighter Power Quest circa Magic Never Dies, not to mention coming in on a more subdued note with a ballad intro that sounds pretty close to an Axel Rudi Pell ballad. A similarly lofty and heroic feel comes across on "Blood On Your Name", and at the tail end of things the band scores a surprising winner in a folksy acoustic ballad in "Call Of Nature" which draws to mind something out of either Elvenking or even the occasional balladry of the now defunct Galloglass.

It's a pretty safe bet that anyone with even the slightest affinity with the shamelessly upbeat and happy character of Freedom Call and even those looking for a toned down version of what Dragonforce is known for will find a sure winner here. Even on the more aggressive side of the spectrum when accounting for the likes of Paragon and Grave Digger, there is a degree of crossover appeal, particularly if someone doesn't mind a little bit of Stratovarius oriented keyboard noodling and atmospherics mixed into said sound. It may not be as overtly Dungeons & Dragons oriented in its lyrical demeanor next to a lot of the bands that came out of the late 1990s explosion of the style, but it definitely comes from the exact same place musically. Prospective newcomers to this band can feel free to come as they are, whether that be toting leathers or chain-mail and board sword in hand.

Review written by hells_unicorn for www.metal-observer.com

Links:
http://www.emeraldsun.gr/
http://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Emerald_Sun/37365