ALEXIS - review added 25th March 2011
Album Review: Birds Of Prey (2010)
For fans of: Power Metal... and big grey hands
Chilean metal band Alexis is formed around and gets its name from vocalist/songwriter Freddy Alexis. He's joined here by Gabriel Hidalgo and various guest musicians including Montserrat Urbina, Felipe Majluf, JP Hermosilla and more.
Alexis can trace its roots back to 1994 when Freddy joined the band Inquisicion. A couple of albums and several years later he formed Witchblade. Another couple of albums followed, leading us onto the present day and "Birds Of Prey".
The sound is a mix of classic metal (think Judas Priest) and modern heavy-ass speed metal (think Cage). Freddy's voice flits between screamy screeching that could break glass at fifty paces, to a deeper more mellow style. He does equal justice to both, and that's to say he is good and bad in both cases. When he gets it right he sounds spectacular - not up there with the like of Rob Halford or Sean Peck but fine all the same. Sadly, he tends to get loose when the voice is really soft, and also when's pushed to his upper limits.
The musicianship is mostly average or above average with a load of superb guitar solos layered over the top. The drums and bass don't always catch the attention, but a lot of those shreds sure do.
Song wise, the album is good but there's nothing of exceptional brilliance. 'Shadows' has some nice melodies and harmonies mixed in with a ton of super-fast riffs. 'Golden Path' does nothing wrong but doesn't really catch my attention. 'Friendly Fire' has some great Dragonforce-esque twiddling, but is uninspiring as a whole. The title track boasts a cool chorus. 'Breaking the Spell' is distinctly middling. 'Metallizer II' is awesome and terrible all at once. Every time I hear it I get a different result - sometimes very positive, sometimes very negative. The vocals are right on the edge of comfort, but if you don't listen too closely they (plus the thrashy guitars) are mind blowing.
In Summation:
"Birds Of Prey" is made up of a lot of very good guitars, some hit and miss singing and a load of so-so songs. It's a mixed bag all right, and as a whole is great and poor all at the same time. Go figure.
Entertainment/Enjoyment:
Musicianship:
Vocals:
Song Writing:
Production:
Overall (Not An Average Of The Above):
Check out... The bonus tracks available on some version of the album.
Track List:
01. Intro
02. Shadows
03. Golden Path
04. Friendly Fire
05. Birds of Prey
06. Breaking the Spell
07. Metallizer II
08. Forest (Outro)
Label: Pitch Black Records
Artist's website(s): Alexis | MySpace
