WINTER'S VERGE - review added 26th January 2010
Album Review: Tales Of Tragedy (2010)
For fans of: Power/Epic Metal... and Mediterranean metal
Winter's Verge is an unusual beast: a Cypriot metal act. The band - George Charalambous on vocals, Stefanos Psillides on keyboards, Harry Pari on guitars, Miguel Trapezaris on bass, and Chris Ioannides on drums - was officially founded in September 2003 by George and Stefanos in the city of Nicosia.
Tales Of Tragedy is the band's 2nd release and follows their debut, Eternal Damnation, which was recorded under the watchful eyes of Mystic Prophecy singer, R.D. Liapakis in Germany. The same studio and producer was again employed this time, although the sound is now (in their own words) "Sharper, darker, more epic and harder edged."
The album certainly has an interesting vibe. The underlying style is power metal, but it's very melodious, almost folk-orientated. George has an unusual voice too. He sometimes gets all gnarly and aggressive, but most of the time he doesn't sound anything like a power metal singer. To my ears, those folk influences ring strongly from his vocal chords. More often even than that, he sounds uncannily like Mark Owen from celebrated UK pop act Take That!
The songs are entertaining without ever being truly brilliant. This is an album that works as a whole more than it does as individual moments. Fans of Finnish folk rockers like Korpiklaani, Turisas etc. should find something to like on Tales Of Tragedy, as should followers of the lighter end of power metal. There isn't a lot of ultra heavy stuff on the album - it certainly isn't going to shake your fillings out - so anyone with a penchant for the brutal side of riffing might want to give this a wide birth.
Overall, this is a decent offering. It's not completely my thing, but there are plenty of people out there who will get a kick from it.
Check out... The Take That similarities...
Track List:
01. World Of Lies
02. Old Man’s Wish
03. I Swear Revenge
04. For Those Who Are Gone
05. The Captain’s Log
06. Envy
07. Dark Entries
08. Madness Once Called Love
09. Tomorrow’s Dawn
10. Reflections Of The Past
11. Curse Of Time
Label: Massacre Records
Artist's website(s): Winter's Verge , MySpace
