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│ METAL CLASSICS ARCHIVE │
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│ P R E S E N T S │
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│ + Excalion - Dream Alive-(SC 323-0) + │
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│╔═════════════════════╗ │
│║ Release Information ║ │
│╠═════════════════════╩══════════════════════════════════════════╗ │
│║ ║ │
│║ Release Date.Aug-22-2017 Encoder......L3.98.4 -V0 --lowpas ║ │
│║ Genre........Metal Graber.......EAC ║ │
│║ Year.........2017 Khz/Bitrate..44,1/ Br ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ Ripper.......anthem Songs........11 ║ │
│║ Covers.......Yes Url... www.excalion.com ║ │
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│╔═════════════════════╗ │
│║ Release Notes ║ │
│╠═════════════════════╩══════════════════════════════════════════╗ │
│║ ║ │
│║ Artist : Excalion Rating : You Decide! ║ │
│║ Album : Dream Alive-(SC 323-0) Label : Scarlet ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ ║ │
│╠════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣ │
│║ ║ │
│║ Description : ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ With some certainty, I thought I had recently ║ │
│║ heard from Excalion, maybe in the last two ║ │
│║ years, and reviewed their latest album. Nope. ║ │
│║ The last album I had from them was 2007's Water ║ │
│║ Lines. Wow, that's ten years ago. While the band ║ │
│║ has been active since then, they haven't been ║ │
│║ all that consistent in output. Another album, ║ │
│║ High Times, surfaced in 2010, and then a huge ║ │
│║ seven year gap occurred. In 2017, Excalion ║ │
│║ arrives with their fourth studio album Dream ║ │
│║ Alive, with a new vocalist, Marcus Lang. It's a ║ │
│║ concept album of sorts, as the band suggests, ║ │
│║ "telling about a modern escapist who lives both ║ │
│║ the past and present, crafting his own ║ │
│║ realities." ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ While my recollection of 2007's Water Lines is ║ │
│║ sketchy at best, Excalion's style of heavy metal ║ │
│║ is quite familiar. In the grand European ║ │
│║ tradition, they play melodic heavy power metal ║ │
│║ with all the signature elements: strong guitar ║ │
│║ harmony in riffs and leads, a sturdy and often ║ │
│║ galloping rhythm section, soaring, melodic, and ║ │
│║ clean vocals and arrangements, and a large ║ │
│║ keyboard presence. ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ That last element is significant since the ║ │
│║ principal song composer is founding member and ║ │
│║ keyboard player Jarmo Myllyvirta. His keyboards ║ │
│║ add everything from orchestration for a ║ │
│║ symphonic atmosphere (Deadwater Bay, ║ │
│║ Centenarian) to powerful solos (Amelia, One Man ║ │
│║ Kingdom) to simple delicate piano lines ║ │
│║ (Deadwater Bay, The Firmament). While the guitar ║ │
│║ lines don't take a back seat to the synths, at ║ │
│║ times both have a similar tone making them ║ │
│║ sometimes indistinguishable from each other. ║ │
│║ But, generally, the guitar solos are self- ║ │
│║ evident and soaring as within Centenarian, ║ │
│║ Living Daylights, or Portrait On The Wall. ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ As for Lang's vocals, he has a melodic, clean, ║ │
│║ and strong presence, yet can get somewhat ║ │
│║ screamo at times. Some of his best performances ║ │
│║ come within Divergent Falling, Marching ║ │
│║ Masquerade, and the soaring anthem Deadwater ║ │
│║ Bay. Finally, thanks to a crisp production in ║ │
│║ the mix (Tuomas Kokko at Electric Fox studio) ║ │
│║ and mastering (Brett-Caldas Lima at Tower Studio ║ │
│║ (Ayreon, Adagio)), Tero Vaaja's bass lines come ║ │
│║ through eloquently, with Marching Masquerade a ║ │
│║ fine example. ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ Fundamentally then, Excalion's Dream Alive is a ║ │
│║ fine return to form for the band, an exceptional ║ │
│║ and entertaining album of melodic power metal ║ │
│║ from this talented band. Hopefully we won't have ║ │
│║ to wait another seven years for the next one. ║ │
│║ Easily recommended. ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ Marcus Lσng - Vocals ║ │
│║ Aleksi Hirvonen - Guitars ║ │
│║ Henri Pirkkalainen - Drums ║ │
│║ Tero Vaaja - Guitars, Bass ║ │
│║ Jarmo "Jappe" Myllyvirta - Keyboards ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ ║ │
│╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ │
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│╔═════════════════════╗ │
│║ Release Tracklist ║ │
│╚═════════════════════╩══════════════════════════════════════════ │
│ │
│ 01 - Divergent Falling [05:18] │
│ 02 - Centenarian [04:27] │
│ 03 - Marching Masquerade [04:39] │
│ 04 - Amelia [05:21] │
│ 05 - Release The Time [05:16] │
│ 06 - One Man Kingdom [04:56] │
│ 07 - Deadwater Bay [05:45] │
│ 08 - The Firmament [04:12] │
│ 09 - Man Alive [03:56] │
│ 10 - Living Daylights [04:55] │
│ 11 - Portrait On The Wall [11:07] │
│ │
│ Total Length : [59:52 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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