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Beyond The Storm Productions
Words: Craig Hartranft
Added: 14.10.2015
Coming out of France, here's Kerion, a female-fronted, melodic and symphonic, power metal band with their fourth album, the second in a series, CloudRiders Part 2 - Technowars. Having already described the band in that first sentence, you can probably guess what Kerion sounds like, living little to be left to the imagination. Avantasia, Rhapsody Of Fire, Amberian Dawn, you name your female symphonic metal poison, and you know what you're goint to get. I guess the worst part is trying to find something new in Kerion's approach or something new to say about the pervasive heavy metal genre.
Which isn't much. Okay. Let's go down the list. Female operatic vocals which you can barely understand, without the lyrics before you, whether by the her high pitch piercing voice or the bombastic arrangements. Check. Of course, there's at least one song, In Silence, something softer, for the gal to be heard better. Sort of. Then there's those bombastic arrangements. Check again. A wall of riffage embellished by faux synthesizer orchestration with often choral vocals to boot. Galloping speed of power metal boosted by a rumbling rhythm section. Ripping and soaring guitar solos, and there's lots of them. Check, and check again. A few touches of some folk metal here and there. Yup. Bit of bonus within Take Me On or the Riders Theme Outro, with nice strings. Did I mention some death vocals? Just a slight use within Heart Of Steal. Perhaps the signature song to combine all of the above, sans the death vocals, is Technowars, epic in every way. So what else is new these days. After these things, I can't tell you shit about the concept or story. Nothing was provided. There is some narration between some songs. Kerion, on their website, has called their approach "comics" metal. Note the pseudo Manga-like characters in the art work. So then, here's the bottom line.
Despite the obvious hints of both incredulity and sarcasm on my part, Kerion is very good at what they do, which is epic and grand symphonic power metal. But will this make them stand out in the crowd. I doubt it. Kerion is just one more band vying for your attention.
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Despite the obvious hints of both incredulity and sarcasm on my part, Kerion is very good at what they do, which is epic and grand symphonic power metal. But will this make them stand out in the crowd. I doubt it. Kerion is just one more band vying for your attention.
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