DIVIDED MULTITUDE - review added 31st March 2010
Album Review: Guardian Angel (2010)
For fans of: Power Metal... and big chunky voices
Divided Multitude have been around since the mid 1990s. They released two demos, Stranded and Tale Of Tomorrow, and were then signed with Sensory Records for their full debut Inner Self in 1999. Falling To Pieces followed in 2002. After a hiatus of a few years, the band tentatively got back together In 2007 and began work on what would become their third album, Guardian Angel.
Now signed to Silverwolf Productions, and with artwork by Mattias Norèn (Evergrey, Ayreon, John Petrucci), and Per Spjøtvold (Goat The Head, Third Kind), the band - Christer Harøy on guitars, Eskild Kløften on keys, Anders Vinje on drums, Sindre Antonsen on vocals, and Rayner Harøy on bass - are finally back with their new album.
The sound is rattling power metal with bundles of melody, extended keyboard forays and very beef-infused vocals. Sindre Antonsen sounds like an exact cross between Andy B. Franck of Brainstorm and Pete Ahonen of Burning Point. His voice is so chunky you could use it anchor an oil tanker in a fast current. His sound is helped by the production's meaty clarity.
The songs are consistently good and, in places, blessed with bone-rattling heaviness. There are no absolutely outstanding tracks, but as a whole this is a very enjoyable slice of power-metal-pie. Highlights include the progressive rambling drumbeats of 'Regrets', the slower purposeful stance of 'Promised Land', and the keyboard frivolity and grinding heavy sections of 'Deeds Of Deception'. The monumentally heavy title track is a bit of a beast too...and 'My Dying Hour' almost turns the band into thrash gods, if only briefly.
Guardian Angel is a pleasant enough release that should appeal to fans of slower power metal and heavy prog. It works better as a whole than as individual tracks, although that's no bad thing. The only real problem for the release is last year's Burning Point album, Empyre, which was very similar to this...only better.
Check out... the progressive heaviness of it all.
Track List:
01. Resurrection
02. Nowhere To Hide
03. Senses
04. Something For Someone
05. Regrets
06. Interludium
07. My Dying Hour
08. Promised Land
09. Pieces On The Floor
10. Deeds Of Deception
11. Guardian Angel
Label: Silverwolf Productions
Artist's website(s): MySpace
