I presented 'Everdawn' to you in 2021 with the release of their first album 'Cleopatra' and it took them a little over two years to offer us a new opus called 'Venera'. At the time, I was struck by a beautiful diversity of styles and, listening to their latest baby, I found the same diversity with influences from other artists. Note a small change in line up and not the least since the bassist with multiple projects 'Mike Lepond' leaves his place to 'Alan D'Angelo'.
First of all, 'Venera' is a copious album since it contains 14 tracks including a long development of almost 13 minutes, the whole exceeding the hour of listening. 'Cassiopeia' (see the video above) opens the ball with an energetic and rhythmic composition in which the Russian 'Alina Gavrilenko' shares herself between clear and lyrical singing, then, 'Century Black' (see the video here), continues but this time in metal reminiscent of the ABBA metal from 'Amberian Dawn' with a melody which is very much in the style of the Swedes. Introduced by a wild rhythm section flirting with power metal, 'Silver Lining' then shows a melodic face and the influences of the previous track are still present while keeping a fast rhythm (see the video here), then 'Karmic Partner' continues in this power and symphonic mix with a remarkable guitar solo from 'Richard Fisher' and the end of the track transforms into a ballad highlighting the lyrical mezzo-soprano register of 'Karmic Partner'. Alina Gavrilenko'. Follows 'Northern Star' whose introduction is certainly a nod to 'Until My Last Breath' from 'Tarja' and which continues in more classic symphonic metal with a new remarkable vocal performance from the Russian on a catchy melody, then, 'Justify the Means', on a mid-tempo , once again highlights the mezzo-soprano which takes on the air of 'Tarja' on this title with its muscular rhythm section and we find this mixture between power metal and symphonic metal in the following title, 'The Promise' with, yet another once, a demonstration of the vocal abilities of 'Alina Gavrilenko' who wanders between her singing which can be quite serious and her more high-pitched lyrical singing.
We arrive at the halfway point and the little instrumental interlude 'Crimson Dusk And Silver Dawn' allows us to once again highlight the wild rhythm section with 'Dan Prestup' on drums and 'Richard Fischer' on guitar who is equally at ease in beautiful acoustic parts but also in high-flying electric guitar solos, the whole flirting with neo-classical. The rest of the album continues in this mixture of power metal and symphonic metal with beautiful alternations of intensity within the compositions themselves, and unfurls the eponymous title of the album, 'Orion's Belt', 'Images Everstanding ' and 'Samsara', all four of which have melodic lines that are easy to understand at first listen. We arrive at the centerpiece of the album 'Truer Words Ever Spoken' which, unlike the other direct titles not exceeding four minutes, adds a good dose of progressive, the keyboards being more present and the influences being multiple with the use of different synthesized sounds, the whole being quite remarkable with in particular this break at 5 minutes where we hear some percussion taking us into an exotic country or these oriental sounds which follow in a powerful and heavy atmosphere or this instrumental part at 8 minutes 40 which highlights the keyboardist 'Boris Zaks' and which continues with a very beautiful guitar solo from 'Richard Fisher', without forgetting this New Orleans part which rubs shoulders with the power of an electro section. 'Beneath The Well' closes the album by returning to this effective mix between power and symphony on which 'Alina Gavrilenko' offers us a final remarkable vocal performance and 'Richard Fischer' an admirable final guitar solo.
In summary, this second album from Everdawn' is quite remarkable and offers a beautiful blend of power metal and symphonic metal with compositions with catchy melodic lines and, icing on the cake, with an exceptional singer who offers a very wide vocal range and a guitarist who has nothing to envy of the best of the genre... | |
