Sunday, August 10, 2014

NEOPERA: "Destined Ways"

Rating: RR
Label: earMUSIC/Edel 2014
Review by: Urban "Wally" Wallstrom

Gamma Ray bassist Dirk Schlachter and Dark Age guitarist Jorn Schubert are jumping on the Gothic/classical bandwagon. Ten years after the rest of the pack and it's sadly just too little and too late. Nina Jiers's soprano voice is classical trained but leaves you rather cold in the long run. Thorsten Schuck baritone is different to say the least and obviously there's the very deranged cookie monster growls going on in the background.

There's hardly anything that distinguish this record from so many others in the same genre and style during the past 14 years or so. The orchestration is pretty mechanical and computerized and there's not a single shred of space nor the much needed sense of human touch. It's nearly as naff as the band's moniker may suggest and I seriously doubt that opera fans would appreciate the gimmick? "Last Pantomime" is a great bombastic tune with Schuck at the centre of attention and you can find a couple of other decent songs inclined towards the concept of symphonic rock.

Final verdict: It lacks however a proper spark in the dark and it's frankly just another display of 50 shades of grey (and no, not the worst book ever in the history of mankind).

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