EMPIRES OF EDEN - review added 8th July 2010
Album Review: Reborn In Fire (2010)
For fans of: Heavy Metal... and closing in on perfection
Reborn In Fire is the follow-up to the first Empires Of Eden album Songs Of War And Vengeance. Australian guitar maestro Stu Marshall is again the brains and brawn behind the project, and again the album features a variety of singers from the metal community adding their soaring vocals to Stu's fantastic guitar musings.
The full list is down the page next to the song titles. Suffice it to say this is a better line-up than first time round. Not all of the vocalists here are absolutely top-end, but there are certainly some fine performances, and the ones who get it right really do kick ass.
There are no such worries about the musicianship. Stu Marshall is a fantastic string shredder. Not only does he muster oodles of speed, he manages to not play all the obvious licks and riffs. There is a real personality to his playing, helped in no small part by the absolutely fantastic tone he produces. The combination of symphonic beauty and thunder-clap heaviness is totally breathtaking, and it's ridiculous he isn't more famous. The remainder of the sound is a fine fit too, and serves to make Reborn In Fire noticeably better than the debut.
Song wise, 'Enter The Storm' is a cool track - especially the huge guitar/keyboard duel featuring Bobby Williamson. It's just about the finest of its kind I've ever heard and it's a shame it doesn't last longer. I can take or leave Sean Peck's band Cage, but his turn here on 'Total Devastation' is a vast and exemplary speaker-eater. The slow-building 'Reborn In Fire' is a fitting title track. Final track 'Rising', featuring Carlos Zema is probably the most impressive. This is a guy with a stunning voice, and Reborn In Fire would have been on a different level if he'd sung the whole album.
Overall, this is a great heavy metal record with a real epic vibe. It's Stu's best work yet. However, it does suffer from, er, Carlos Zema and Sean Peck; they make everyone else sound 2nd-tier in comparison. Get them, Stu, and Bobby Williamson (with his masterful keyboard work) together for a whole LP and I suspect it would be off the scale. Still, Reborn In Fire is a fine release and well worth a purchase. If Stu continues improving like this he'll have a masterpiece on his hands in a few years.
Check out... Carlos and Bobby on YouTube together in Outworld's 'Warcry'
Track List:
01. Of Light And Shadows (Feat. Mike Vescera)
02. Enter The Storm (Feat. Louie Gorgievski)
03. Total Devastation (Feat. Sean Peck)
04. Prognatus Ut Obscurum (Feat. Zak Stevens)
05. Reborn In Fire (Feat. Chris Ninni & Mike Zoias)
06. Beyond Daybreak (Feat. Steve Grimmett)
07. Death Machine (Feat. Louie Gorgievski)
08. Searching Within (Feat. Louie Gorgievski)
09. Rising (Feat. Carlos Zema)
Label: 7Hard Records
Artist's website(s): Empires Of Eden | MySpace | Facebook
