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LycanthropeMoon
Metalhead

Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2014 11:53 pm
Posts: 2296
Location: United States
PostPosted: Mon Oct 04, 2021 2:12 pm 
 

I really didn't fucking like the last album, but I'll probably give this a shot regardless because I'm a masochist. Also, it could be good, who knows?

Cover art:
Image

Tracklisting:
01. Circus Of Doom
02. Wings Of Light
03. Master Of Illusion
04. Where Angels Fear To Fly
05. Eye Of The Storm
06. Russian Roulette
07. Freedom
08. The Road To Avalon
09. Armageddon
10. Place That We Call Home

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lordcatfish
Metalhead

Joined: Thu Jul 27, 2006 2:44 pm
Posts: 1461
Location: United Kingdom
PostPosted: Mon Oct 04, 2021 3:19 pm 
 

Yeah, the last album was a big let down, but I'll still give this a shot. Noora Louhimo is one of my favourite vocalists at the moment.
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ChildClownOutlet
Metalhead

Joined: Fri Dec 16, 2011 4:52 pm
Posts: 1579
Location: United States
PostPosted: Mon Oct 04, 2021 5:07 pm 
 

I'm never going to like Noora's vocals but Ill see how bad this album is compared to the last crappy one.
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Empyreal
The Final Frontier

Joined: Thu Nov 30, 2006 6:58 pm
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 04, 2021 5:08 pm 
 

God those song titles are like a random power metal 2000-2006 title generator results.
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Zelkiiro
Pounding the world with a fish of steel

Joined: Sat Apr 18, 2009 5:30 pm
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Location: Pennsylvania
PostPosted: Mon Oct 04, 2021 5:12 pm 
 

Empyreal wrote:
God those song titles are like a random power metal 2000-2006 title generator results.

Which already makes it quite promising.
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Empyreal
The Final Frontier

Joined: Thu Nov 30, 2006 6:58 pm
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 04, 2021 5:20 pm 
 

Zelkiiro wrote:
Empyreal wrote:
God those song titles are like a random power metal 2000-2006 title generator results.

Which already makes it quite promising.


They've gotten worse with every successive album, so I don't know. But who knows...
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Curious_dead
Metalhead

Joined: Wed Sep 20, 2006 12:13 pm
Posts: 1476
PostPosted: Mon Oct 04, 2021 6:51 pm 
 

Empyreal wrote:
God those song titles are like a random power metal 2000-2006 title generator results.


It's like those AI generated things.

Circus of Doom - No band in particular but of course, the dark circus/carnival is a very common trope
Wings of Light - That's 100% Freedom Call
Master of Illusion - Edguy or Gamma Ray vibes
Where Angels Fear to Fly - Children of Bodom, but also maybe At Vance
Eye of the Storm - Definitely Freedom Call, but that's generic enough for dozens of bands
Russian Roulette - Helloween (Russian Roulé)
Freedom - Super generic
Road to Avalon - Timo Tolkki's Avalon (duh!)
Armageddon - Super generic but to me it evokes Gamma Ray first
Place That We Call Home - Damn that title annoys me, "The Place We Call Home" or "That Place We Call Home" or even just "The Place That We Call Home" would all be better titles to me

But really, what matters is the music, the titles are just a bit "generic power metal", it's not the first album to do that (Freedom Call is guilty of that but they're generally pretty good anyway). And the cover is cool.

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MawBTS
Metalhead

Joined: Sat Aug 30, 2014 2:16 am
Posts: 1046
PostPosted: Tue Oct 05, 2021 2:42 am 
 

Quote:
And the cover is cool.


I dunno, "circus but it's scary/evil" is a pretty overdone concept if you ask me. These are all from the last few years.

https://www.metal-archives.com/images/3 ... 7.jpg?3539
https://www.metal-archives.com/images/3 ... 2.jpg?5826
https://www.metal-archives.com/images/6 ... 0.jpg?0229

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Curious_dead
Metalhead

Joined: Wed Sep 20, 2006 12:13 pm
Posts: 1476
PostPosted: Tue Oct 05, 2021 7:17 am 
 

I agree, but I like the execution, even if it's really not original.

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Kalaratri
Veteran

Joined: Wed Aug 05, 2020 3:22 pm
Posts: 2871
PostPosted: Tue Oct 05, 2021 11:50 pm 
 

Curious_dead wrote:
Empyreal wrote:
God those song titles are like a random power metal 2000-2006 title generator results.


It's like those AI generated things.

Circus of Doom - No band in particular but of course, the dark circus/carnival is a very common trope
Wings of Light - That's 100% Freedom Call
Master of Illusion - Edguy or Gamma Ray vibes
Where Angels Fear to Fly - Children of Bodom, but also maybe At Vance
Eye of the Storm - Definitely Freedom Call, but that's generic enough for dozens of bands
Russian Roulette - Helloween (Russian Roulé)
Freedom - Super generic
Road to Avalon - Timo Tolkki's Avalon (duh!)
Armageddon - Super generic but to me it evokes Gamma Ray first
Place That We Call Home - Damn that title annoys me, "The Place We Call Home" or "That Place We Call Home" or even just "The Place That We Call Home" would all be better titles to me

But really, what matters is the music, the titles are just a bit "generic power metal", it's not the first album to do that (Freedom Call is guilty of that but they're generally pretty good anyway). And the cover is cool.


If someone made a Euro PM parody band, these are the song titles I'd expect them to use for their debut full length. Realistically speaking there's nothing wrong with using standard power metal tropes of course, but it kind of gives off the vibe that they're running out of ideas. I guess we'll find out when they start releasing singles.

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lordcatfish
Metalhead

Joined: Thu Jul 27, 2006 2:44 pm
Posts: 1461
Location: United Kingdom
PostPosted: Fri Oct 22, 2021 12:56 am 
 

First song is here. Don't think it's too bad myself. Quite catchy.

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Mountain
Metal newbie

Joined: Sun Feb 07, 2016 1:22 pm
Posts: 55
PostPosted: Fri Oct 22, 2021 1:17 am 
 

Curious_dead wrote:
Empyreal wrote:
Russian Roulette - Helloween (Russian Roulé)


I laughed at the original post about the song titles being reminiscent because I agree, but I laughed harder at this response being anything other than Accept since they wrote an album, with a song, called Russian Roulette in '86.

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Empyreal
The Final Frontier

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PostPosted: Fri Oct 22, 2021 2:19 am 
 

"Russian Roulette" was the only one I didn't think sounded like 5 or 6 other bands, for what it's worth. But yeah I mean if the music miraculously is good I won't harp any more on that.
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Zelkiiro
Pounding the world with a fish of steel

Joined: Sat Apr 18, 2009 5:30 pm
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Location: Pennsylvania
PostPosted: Fri Oct 22, 2021 3:10 am 
 

lordcatfish wrote:
First song is here. Don't think it's too bad myself. Quite catchy.


This is already better than anything off the last album...well, except the shockingly excellent "The Golden Horde," that is.
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LycanthropeMoon
Metalhead

Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2014 11:53 pm
Posts: 2296
Location: United States
PostPosted: Fri Oct 22, 2021 10:28 am 
 

I suppose I agree with Zelkiiro. Noora sounds more energetic here than on most songs on "No More Hollywood Endings", so that's a plus.

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Demon Fang
Metalhead

Joined: Tue Mar 12, 2019 9:42 am
Posts: 538
PostPosted: Fri Oct 22, 2021 10:34 am 
 

Hold the fuckin' phone, this might actually be at least decent???

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ChildClownOutlet
Metalhead

Joined: Fri Dec 16, 2011 4:52 pm
Posts: 1579
Location: United States
PostPosted: Fri Oct 22, 2021 11:25 pm 
 

Yeah, I'm not ever gonna like these guys. Nooras vocals are just annoying, I dunno how you guys can stand her.
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LithoJazzoSphere
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Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2020 8:11 pm
Posts: 3576
Location: United States
PostPosted: Sat Oct 23, 2021 1:36 am 
 

I've heard a handful of songs here and there and wasn't particularly blown away, but that song works for me. Kind of Brittney Slayes-like on that track at least. I don't know, it fits right into the tradition of over the top belters like Halford, Dickinson, Dio and the like, just modernized a bit.

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Bloodstone
Metalhead

Joined: Thu Mar 11, 2004 11:48 am
Posts: 560
Location: Germany
PostPosted: Sat Oct 23, 2021 3:03 pm 
 

New song is a banger. This band has been hit or miss for a while but they can still really deliver that big fun pop power metal when they want to. Not sure why this works for me while I can't stand Sabaton, but there you have it.
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Empyreal
The Final Frontier

Joined: Thu Nov 30, 2006 6:58 pm
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 23, 2021 3:34 pm 
 

This is pretty good for what it is, I just don't care for this style at all anymore I guess. Just too plastic sounding.
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thePowermetalLynx
Metal newbie

Joined: Thu Mar 19, 2020 7:57 am
Posts: 140
Location: China
PostPosted: Tue Oct 26, 2021 11:14 am 
 

The new single is actually good.I’m quite impressed after the last shitty album. And Noora’s definitely one of my favorite female vocalist in the genre
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Metal Shark
Metalhead

Joined: Tue Feb 25, 2014 9:54 am
Posts: 1066
Location: United States
PostPosted: Wed Oct 27, 2021 5:27 am 
 

Circus of DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! :lol:

But the music, and esp. the singing, is good! :)

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Zelkiiro
Pounding the world with a fish of steel

Joined: Sat Apr 18, 2009 5:30 pm
Posts: 7729
Location: Pennsylvania
PostPosted: Wed Oct 27, 2021 12:57 pm 
 

ChildClownOutlet wrote:
Nooras vocals are just annoying, I dunno how you guys can stand her.

Not only do I stand her, she's one of my favorite vocalists. Big Doro Energy, and any vocalist that reminds me of Doro even a little bit is top-shelf in my books.
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lordcatfish
Metalhead

Joined: Thu Jul 27, 2006 2:44 pm
Posts: 1461
Location: United Kingdom
PostPosted: Fri Nov 26, 2021 5:30 am 
 

Another new song. Nothing too surprising, but again it's pretty catchy.

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LithoJazzoSphere
Veteran

Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2020 8:11 pm
Posts: 3576
Location: United States
PostPosted: Fri Nov 26, 2021 6:00 am 
 

This was not an album I was really anticipating a few months ago, but with these two singles I kind of am now. Noora's vocal prowess in particular continues to impress.

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LycanthropeMoon
Metalhead

Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2014 11:53 pm
Posts: 2296
Location: United States
PostPosted: Fri Nov 26, 2021 11:56 pm 
 

I'm genuinely surprised at how much I enjoy both of these singles, and now I feel like a dick for being a bit overly negative when I started this very thread. "No More Hollywood Endings" really was massively disappointing for me though... but this is hopefully a step back in the right direction. I will now be cautiously optimistic.

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tahu157
Metalhead

Joined: Mon Jul 21, 2014 10:22 pm
Posts: 1008
Location: United States
PostPosted: Sat Nov 27, 2021 12:56 am 
 

MawBTS wrote:
Quote:
And the cover is cool.


I dunno, "circus but it's scary/evil" is a pretty overdone concept if you ask me. These are all from the last few years.

https://www.metal-archives.com/images/3 ... 7.jpg?3539
https://www.metal-archives.com/images/3 ... 2.jpg?5826
https://www.metal-archives.com/images/6 ... 0.jpg?0229

https://www.metal-archives.com/images/2 ... 4.jpg?0556
https://www.metal-archives.com/images/4 ... 0.jpg?2721
https://www.metal-archives.com/images/2 ... 5.jpg?4526
https://www.metal-archives.com/images/1 ... 1.jpg?1409
https://www.metal-archives.com/images/6 ... 2.jpg?4635

Plus stuff like the band Imperial Circus Dead Decadence and In Flames with their whole Jester character.

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Subrick
Metal Strongman

Joined: Sun Sep 12, 2010 7:27 pm
Posts: 10167
Location: United States
PostPosted: Mon Nov 29, 2021 11:29 pm 
 

Both songs were about a billion times better than 99% of the last album. I'm actually looking forward to it now after initially brushing it off.
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KaiKasparek
Metalhead

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PostPosted: Sun Dec 26, 2021 9:12 pm 
 

I like the two singles well enough, even though Master of Illusion feels a little like King For A Day.

No More Hollywood Endings was so poorly received it doesn't even have a wikipedia page. :lol:
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lordcatfish
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Joined: Thu Jul 27, 2006 2:44 pm
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 07, 2022 2:07 am 
 

Another song. I think the other two were better.

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KaiKasparek
Metalhead

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PostPosted: Fri Jan 07, 2022 4:02 pm 
 

lordcatfish wrote:
Another song. I think the other two were better.


Agreed, this is definitely the most 80s pop sounding one of the bunch, but its still better than Endless Summer.
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Zelkiiro
Pounding the world with a fish of steel

Joined: Sat Apr 18, 2009 5:30 pm
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 07, 2022 8:20 pm 
 

Yeah, this 3rd song is not as strong as the other two, but still not bad. Still shaping up to be a promising album.
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lordcatfish
Metalhead

Joined: Thu Jul 27, 2006 2:44 pm
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 21, 2022 3:54 am 
 

Big improvement on the last album. I suppose it's not much different, just that the songs are better. There's some really catchy hooks, and Noora is still as brilliant as ever.

That said, it's quite predictable and formulaic, and it could do with a bit of variation in tempo. Most of the album is mid paced. I miss when this band went for the jugular now and then.
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BuriedUnborn
Metal newbie

Joined: Wed Jul 26, 2017 12:01 pm
Posts: 318
Location: Inside your house
PostPosted: Fri Jan 21, 2022 5:16 am 
 

Oh boy, another terrible album. Their first album was great, I was obsessed with their second at a time when it had just come out and I was just a kid. Their third album was terrible but at least it had some decent songs; I lost all hope at the 4th and never cared about these guys again.

I'll never understand how bands like this one or Sabaton went from having excellent songwriting to being what they are now. What a waste of talent.
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Demon Fang
Metalhead

Joined: Tue Mar 12, 2019 9:42 am
Posts: 538
PostPosted: Fri Jan 21, 2022 6:08 am 
 

It's fine. The first two singles plus a couple towards the end are fun, but I get the same thing from this album I got from their third and fourth albums; unevenness. Like, the rest have something going, but they don't quite pop out that much and don't end up as catchy, as memorable or even as hooky.

Demon Fang wrote:
Hold the fuckin' phone, this might actually be at least decent???

Yeah past me, it's decent.

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KaiKasparek
Metalhead

Joined: Sun Dec 19, 2021 5:06 pm
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 21, 2022 9:34 am 
 

New single.



Pretty similar to Eye of The Storm, but I guess that happens with bands like these. Was hoping a fast song like Bringer of Pain would be put out as a single but I guess not.

On the shallow side, Noora is slimming down. Me likey.
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thePowermetalLynx
Metal newbie

Joined: Thu Mar 19, 2020 7:57 am
Posts: 140
Location: China
PostPosted: Fri Jan 21, 2022 10:55 am 
 

The album is finally out!
What are our thoughts?
For me this is infinitely better than the last shit they'd put out. Battle Beast seems to have gone symphonic... and oddly enough, tis not as annoying as I usually find symphonic stuff to be. Of course there are still disco-ish song. Rocking out to Armageddon rn
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LycanthropeMoon
Metalhead

Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2014 11:53 pm
Posts: 2296
Location: United States
PostPosted: Fri Jan 21, 2022 7:36 pm 
 

This is so much fucking better than "No More Hollywood Endings". It's got much stronger hooks, it's got a hell of a lot more energy, Noora sounds like she's giving it her all in the singing department - just an all around massive improvement in every way conceivable. Also as someone that's a sucker for symphonic metal (Nightwish was my gateway band - I can't help it lol), I like the symphonic elements they've brought to the forefront.

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By_Inheritance
Metalhead

Joined: Fri Dec 25, 2009 8:38 am
Posts: 572
PostPosted: Sat Jan 22, 2022 6:43 pm 
 

This is a massive return to form. Better than their last two, and better than the new Beast in Black (which I found to be disappointingly mediocre). It's not perfect by any means, but it's very good fun!

PS The two bonus tracks kick ass and they're better than some of the album tracks.

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BastardHead
Worse than Stalin

Joined: Thu Aug 18, 2005 7:53 pm
Posts: 10857
Location: Oswego, Illinois
PostPosted: Wed Jan 26, 2022 1:39 am 
 

I don't fucking know what to do with this band anymore. They're basically exactly like Powerwolf at this point where they basically release the same album over and over again but somehow there are still huge gulfs in quality between them despite never really doing anything new.

When it comes to this particular style (I'm still calling it 3rd wave power metal) I really can't tell you what makes an album good or bad since so many bands are basically interchangeable despite the aforementioned gaps in quality between bands and releases that all sound the same, but this one easily lands on the good side. Probably their best since Unholy Savior and I might even end up putting it above that one eventually. The hooks here are just SO fucking infectious. I've had Russian Roulette and Wings of Light stuck in my head for days now. Maybe it's because Noora is doing a whole lot more singing as opposed to constantly belting like Doro the whole time, maybe the band finally just managed to break out of Anton's shadow and replicate his songwriting without just being a worse version of him, maybe the hooks are just genuinely better written, I can't say. I just know I can't stop listening to this album and I can't decide if I'm furious or ecstatic about it based on how unbelievably godawful No More Hollywood Endings was.
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