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│ METAL CLASSICS ARCHIVE │
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│ P R E S E N T S │
│ │
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│ + Dragonheart - The Battle Sanctuary + │
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│ │
│╔═════════════════════╗ │
│║ Release Information ║ │
│╠═════════════════════╩══════════════════════════════════════════╗ │
│║ ║ │
│║ Release Date.Oct-23-2015 Encoder......L3.97 -V2 --vbr-new ║ │
│║ Genre........Heavy Metal Graber.......EAC ║ │
│║ Year.........2015 Khz/Bitrate..44,1/ Br ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ Ripper.......anthem Songs........11 ║ │
│║ Covers.......Yes Url... n/a ║ │
│║ ║ │
│╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ │
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│╔═════════════════════╗ │
│║ Release Notes ║ │
│╠═════════════════════╩══════════════════════════════════════════╗ │
│║ ║ │
│║ Artist : Dragonheart Rating : You Decide! ║ │
│║ Album : The Battle Sanctuary Label : Pitch Black ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ ║ │
│╠════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣ │
│║ ║ │
│║ Description : ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ BrazilÆs Dragonheart return after a decade-long ║ │
│║ period of hibernation with The Battle Sanctuary, ║ │
│║ a power metal album that delves deep in the ║ │
│║ roots of the genre without coming off as ║ │
│║ roundabout or played-out. I was first drawn to ║ │
│║ this band years ago with the venerable Vengeance ║ │
│║ in Black courtesy of the legendary Andreas ║ │
│║ Marschall cover art. Thankfully, the material ║ │
│║ within evoked many a parallel to the visuals, ║ │
│║ and while most people only know of this band ║ │
│║ indirectly due to the DragonForce reference, the ║ │
│║ quality of DragonheartÆs material is actually ║ │
│║ quite tenable. Their style is more focused and ║ │
│║ traditional than most South American power ║ │
│║ metal, with escalating speed metal ballistics ║ │
│║ striking the iron alongside lower register ║ │
│║ riffage redolent of many classic German acts ║ │
│║ like Grave Digger and such. ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ So with the basics laid out, the most important ║ │
│║ point to focus on immediately are the vocals, ║ │
│║ which trade-off between a husky grumble and more ║ │
│║ typical power metal clean sneer. The former ║ │
│║ reminds me of Jens B÷rner from Lonewolf, sharing ║ │
│║ in that same throaty, arguably tonedeaf roar ║ │
│║ that fits the more weathered and battle-worn ║ │
│║ aesthetic that typifies DragonheartÆs material. ║ │
│║ The clean vocals range in quality, and are ║ │
│║ implemented more and more as The Battle ║ │
│║ Sanctuary wears on. In fact, opener ôFar from ║ │
│║ Heavenà Close to Hellö contains the worst of the ║ │
│║ clean vocals on the refrain, so once that hurdle ║ │
│║ is surmounted it is relatively clear sailing for ║ │
│║ the remainder. Also used extensively are backing ║ │
│║ choral chants, which are somewhat neutered by ║ │
│║ the goofy ass mixing job but evocative ║ │
│║ nonetheless. ôBlack Shadowö is probably the most ║ │
│║ convincing example of the vocals excelling ║ │
│║ alongside strong songwriting and punchy ║ │
│║ temperament. ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ Those pining for power metal bombast wonÆt be ║ │
│║ left starving either, as The Battle Sanctuary ║ │
│║ pulls off Blind Guardian theatrics when called ║ │
│║ for, albeit briefly. ôThe ArcaneÆs Palaceö is a ║ │
│║ comparatively huge-sounding tune and breaks out ║ │
│║ taut leads alongside Thiago MussiÆs mechanized ║ │
│║ performance behind the kit. IÆm actually really ║ │
│║ digging MussiÆs style here, especially his ║ │
│║ peerless drum fills, all of which are strongly ║ │
│║ accentuated by the production values. Being a ║ │
│║ more traditional endeavour, the record doesnÆt ║ │
│║ contain many radio-friendly refrains or overt ║ │
│║ earworm melodies played up just for kicks. That ║ │
│║ said, ôForged into Metalö is an anthem worth ║ │
│║ repeating often, and stands as a sort of ║ │
│║ stylistic bifurcation throughout the albumÆs ║ │
│║ procession, which begins to take on a more epic ║ │
│║ slant (with more clean vocals) as it wears on. ║ │
│║ In fact, The Battle Sanctuary does an ║ │
│║ exceptional job at displaying a surface-level ║ │
│║ narrative through song selection alone, stock ║ │
│║ fantasy tropes aside. ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ This brings me to my big detraction here, which ║ │
│║ is the mixing job! The guitar tone is sinewy and ║ │
│║ virulent enough, but in the end only the drums ║ │
│║ and vocals cut through the mix consistently. ║ │
│║ Even worse, the keyboards are drenched in reverb ║ │
│║ and are hardly recognizable. ôCircle of Oneö ║ │
│║ contains a lot of backing keys, but to me it ║ │
│║ just sounds like booming nonsense. Same goes for ║ │
│║ the backing choral interjections; it almost ║ │
│║ sounds like they are mixed without enough top ║ │
│║ end û it just sounds bottlenecked. In any event, ║ │
│║ this feels like hair splitting considering how ║ │
│║ pumped I am for this bandÆs return after such a ║ │
│║ long downtime. Dragonheart clearly havenÆt lost ║ │
│║ a step here, and while The Battle Sanctuary ║ │
│║ might get washed over in favor of more ║ │
│║ established names, these guys are hot on their ║ │
│║ heels. Power metal fans need to check out this ║ │
│║ bandÆs discography in full. No Andreas Marschall ║ │
│║ cover this time, but IÆll get over it. Strong ║ │
│║ recommendation. ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ Mauricio Taborda - Bass and Vocals ║ │
│║ Marco Caporasso - Guitars and Vocals ║ │
│║ AndrΘ Mendes - Guitars, Keyboards and Vocal ║ │
│║ Thiago Mussi - Drums ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ ║ │
│╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ │
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│╔═════════════════════╗ │
│║ Release Tracklist ║ │
│╚═════════════════════╩══════════════════════════════════════════ │
│ │
│ 01 - Far From Heaven... Close To Hell [05:37] │
│ 02 - Black Shadow [06:24] │
│ 03 - The Arcane┤s Palace [05:30] │
│ 04 - Inside The Enemy┤s Mind [05:28] │
│ 05 - Forged Into Metal [05:17] │
│ 06 - Battle Lines [03:57] │
│ 07 - Marching Under The Stars [04:09] │
│ 08 - Circle Of One [04:12] │
│ 09 - Kill The Leader [05:01] │
│ 10 - The Battle Sanctuary [05:10] │
│ 11 - Time Will Tell [05:51] │
│ │
│ Total Length : [56:36 minn │
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│ ╔═════════════════════╗ │
│ ║ Greetings To: ║ │
│ ╚═════════════════════╝ │
│ │
│ Too all people who contributes to make this │
│ archive of good music in a exceptional conditions │
│ │
│ │
│ │
│■ ■│
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