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A long time ago, I had a girlfriend who was really into bands like Hammerfall and Halloween. She continuously listened to those bands until she decides to seek other musical paths, and other boyfriends. When we broke up, I immediately stopped listening to these bands. I completely ignored the later day power metal bands like Symphony X or Circus Maximus, not because they made me feel bad about the break-up, I just never really liked them. So when I heard W. Angel's Conquest, I thought about her and wondered how she was doing, for a very short time by the way. She would have loved this Ukranian band, that's for sure.
W. Angel's Conquest started in 1995 as a solo project for guitar player W. Angel. At first he wanted to play songs in the vein of Def Leppard but gradually the band evolved into the a highly professional sounding power metal band. So several albums and line-up changes later, W. Angel is back with a tremendous throw back into the nineties. Using high speed songs with powerful vocals and a whole lot of melody, this album is a great addition to any collection where bands like Primal Fear, Edguy or Gamma Ray are represented.
For the main part, 'Taste Of Life' reminds me of the best of what Halloween gave us in the past. Opener 'Revolution' and the following songs 'Mirror of Truth' and 'Sunrise' delivers the exact same elements as the German gods of power metal used. Uptempo drums, trechant guitar riffs and a solid heavy metal voice blast out of my speakers with a lot of intensity. Somehow W. Angel's Conquest has succeeded in making this genre relevant again, at least to me.
'Spirit Of Freedom' takes things a bit slower and should be the mandatory ballad but unfortunately it misses the strength of the epic anthems their predecessors have written. Not that this is a bad song, not at all, but for a power rock ballad this one sounds very modern-day alternative metal. 'Blooming Day' is a better example of a power metal ballad. It even reminds me of The Scorpions. Closer 'The Road' does it even better.
The use of keyboards and electronics on this album is excellent, almost methodical. In 'Fellowship' they bring an almost psychedelic or trancy atmosphere by perfectly aligning themselves with the guitar riffs. Like most of the songs, this one too drives on amain drums and the typical high pitched vocals. The electronics are quite new to me, sometimes they're used in a way Rammstein does, which is just amazing. They're a very nice addition to the music.
The songs are strong enough to be used on stage in a convincing way, even when many audience members will think this style of music is outdated. I can imagine an entire audience going berzerk on this stuff, especially on the big metal festivals where all kinds of different subgenres are represented. The levels of musicianship and songwriting are very high, but that's usually implied with a band that has been around since 1995.
The most striking element on this album is the immense level of professionalism. Nothing is left to chance, every sound, riff, drum and vocal line has been written and recorded meticulously and the production is very solid. The result is indeed a high quality power metal album that can absolutely compete with the big names in this genre. The bands I mentioned in this review are actually the only ones I know and so the only ones I can compare to but I'm quite sure 'Taste Of Life' easily reaches the same level as them.
Serge
W. Angel's Conquest started in 1995 as a solo project for guitar player W. Angel. At first he wanted to play songs in the vein of Def Leppard but gradually the band evolved into the a highly professional sounding power metal band. So several albums and line-up changes later, W. Angel is back with a tremendous throw back into the nineties. Using high speed songs with powerful vocals and a whole lot of melody, this album is a great addition to any collection where bands like Primal Fear, Edguy or Gamma Ray are represented.
For the main part, 'Taste Of Life' reminds me of the best of what Halloween gave us in the past. Opener 'Revolution' and the following songs 'Mirror of Truth' and 'Sunrise' delivers the exact same elements as the German gods of power metal used. Uptempo drums, trechant guitar riffs and a solid heavy metal voice blast out of my speakers with a lot of intensity. Somehow W. Angel's Conquest has succeeded in making this genre relevant again, at least to me.
'Spirit Of Freedom' takes things a bit slower and should be the mandatory ballad but unfortunately it misses the strength of the epic anthems their predecessors have written. Not that this is a bad song, not at all, but for a power rock ballad this one sounds very modern-day alternative metal. 'Blooming Day' is a better example of a power metal ballad. It even reminds me of The Scorpions. Closer 'The Road' does it even better.
The use of keyboards and electronics on this album is excellent, almost methodical. In 'Fellowship' they bring an almost psychedelic or trancy atmosphere by perfectly aligning themselves with the guitar riffs. Like most of the songs, this one too drives on amain drums and the typical high pitched vocals. The electronics are quite new to me, sometimes they're used in a way Rammstein does, which is just amazing. They're a very nice addition to the music.
The songs are strong enough to be used on stage in a convincing way, even when many audience members will think this style of music is outdated. I can imagine an entire audience going berzerk on this stuff, especially on the big metal festivals where all kinds of different subgenres are represented. The levels of musicianship and songwriting are very high, but that's usually implied with a band that has been around since 1995.
The most striking element on this album is the immense level of professionalism. Nothing is left to chance, every sound, riff, drum and vocal line has been written and recorded meticulously and the production is very solid. The result is indeed a high quality power metal album that can absolutely compete with the big names in this genre. The bands I mentioned in this review are actually the only ones I know and so the only ones I can compare to but I'm quite sure 'Taste Of Life' easily reaches the same level as them.
Serge