WINTER'S VERGE - review added 20th April 2012
Album Review: Beyond Vengeance (2012)
For fans of: Epic Melodic Heavy Metal
Cypriot metal act Winter's Verge last appeared on these pages with their decent 2010 album "Tales Of Tragedy". "Beyond Vengeance" is their 3rd release and again features the achingly talented R.D. Liapakis as master of ceremonies in the studio (with occasional vocal insets to boot).
The sound is still folksy-biased heavy metal with pleasantly raucous guitars, melodious keyboards fluttering away in the background, pounding drums, and George Charalambous' unusually mellow vocals. Yes, he still sounds like an angrier version of Mark Owen from Take That, and his voice is way too chilled and friendly for the gnarliness of the music, but it does give the band a unique sound which should be applauded.
Just like last time, this is an album that works best as a whole rather than individual tracks. In fact I've listened through it several times and, though it is enjoyable, little stands out. 'Bleeding Heart' with snippets of female vocals is good, as is the very heavy 'Angels Of Babylon' featuring R.D. Liapakis' awesome Bruce Dickinson-style vocals. Other than that though it's a mound of pleasant noises.
In Summation:
"Beyond Vengeance" continues where the last album finished. If you liked that you'll like this. If not, you probably won't.
Entertainment/Enjoyment:
Musicianship:
Vocals:
Song Writing:
Production:
Overall (Not An Average Of The Above):
Track List:
01. Cunning Lullabies
02. Paper Is Blank
03. Unto The Darkness
04. Not Without A Fight
05. Bleeding Heart
06. Dying
07. One Last Night
08. Threads Of My Life
09. Angels Of Babylon
10. Semeni
11. A Dream For A Dream
Band/Performers:
George Charalambous - Vocals
Stefanos Psillides - Keyboards
Harry Pari - Guitars
Miguel Trapezaris - Bass
Chris Ioannides - Drums
Other Info:
Produced & recorded by R.D. Liapakis (Mystic Prophecy) at Music Factory studios, Kempten
Label: Massacre Records
Artist's website(s): Winter's Verge | MySpace | Facebook
