This young Swedish band – from Skellefteå – is formed of 6 musicians, who are all aged between 18 and 20 years old. Symphony of the Night is their first album, it has 9 tracks and its length is about 43 minutes. Yes, it pass ULTRA fast! ;-)
All I can say, to start, is that I stayed completely astonished when I listened to it! I liked it VERY MUCH at once and I even included them on my list of favorite bands, now! I was very impressed by the quality of this record; it’s great from the beginning to the end, without exception and their music corresponds exactly to my tastes – as I’m a fan of power metal. I mean, for a first album – and for being so young…WOW !!!!!! Great job !!! The musicians really have a lot of talent and I’m sure they’ll go very far. If this is only the beginning, I wonder how will sound their future albums… ;-) I just LOVE it !!! I think they reach the level of quality of Stratovarius, Gamma Ray, Edguy, etc. and that, being so young and having only one CD done!! Every song is a great pleasure to listen to and till now, since I got it in my hands, I’ve listened to it about a million times already…and never got tired of it! :-)
With this album, you DON’T SKIP ANY SONG! And that’s something I enjoy deeply. Actually, I could mention only a few CDs where I find EVERYTHING, every aspect perfect…and Symphony of the Night is part of them. The vocals are incredible, the lyrics too and the music is just…awesome. I would advise it to any power metal fan! They won’t be disappointed.
I don’t know if I’m the only one, but this album reminds me a lot of Rhapsody!!! Straight from the first hearing, I thought of them – for the melodies and the lyrics (but not for the vocals, though. Simon has his own personal way of singing). Not that I always think of Rhapsody when I hear the album, because they have their own style, but if I had to find a similar band to give someone who never listened to them an example, it’s the band I would give as a reference. Basically, it’s a superb CD, with ALWAYS great solos and great choruses! I’m amazed by the talent of these guys!!!! They’re great!
My favorite songs (in order) are; Rage Divine, I like everything from this song! It’s the best one both musically and vocally, in my opinion. I like the effect it gives when the bass and the guitar start at the beginning because you can feel a kind of “acceleration” in the music or something like that (I don’t really know how to explain that). It’s cool. At two specific points, the singer raises his voice so high for such a long time…he has a really powerful voice (and lots of breathe) in this song. It simply caught me on. I also love the keyboards & guitar solo part there too (it’s the instrumental part that reminds me the most of Rhapsody). And after that (from 5:05 till the end) the kind of “back vocals” that repeat themselves many times. The whole variation is very good.
Merlin, I love the rhythm of this song! The solo (the part that starts at 3:49 till 4:13) is the best one on the album and I love the choruses.
Higher that Life, Great speed, here! And I like the lyrics a lot.
Home, This one has a different feeling and is the second best song vocally, I think! Simon’s voice reach a very high and clear note, and that sounds great! I love the way he sings this one.
Across the Sky , Mainly for the lyrics and vocally (at the beginning), plus a special little part between 2:11 and 2:16. ;-) But for the music too. Well, I like it for everything, in fact.
I love the other songs for almost all the same reasons: great music, great speed, great vocals, great lyrics, wonderful solos and choruses. Everything together makes of it a very cool and special CD (but quite short!). It makes me feel happy and in a good mood every time I listen to it. Every instrument has a strong presence and form a nice “whole”. My special “heartbeat” would go to the keyboards, though…
So, honestly, ALL THE SONGS ARE GREAT. GREAT POWER ALBUM! I would rate it around 9.5/10 ?! I guess it’s pretty fair.
Nightscape is really a great band that deserves to be discovered and Symphony of the Night is a pure wonder that power metal fans will like immediately. You NEED this album in your collection!
You can be sure that I’ll check closely for the next material Simon Åkesson (vocals), Joakim Wiklund (guitars), Stefan Widmark (bass), Tyler Voelz (drums) and Markus Sundquist (keyboards) will bring out! And I hope it’s going to be soon! ;-)
I’m very glad that I found a new band that totally fit with me and that is totally my kind! It doesn’t happen everyday…
Reviewed by Vikie Martel on December 9th, 2005
